


RimFire

by Nightmare_Taichou



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-05-05 19:56:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 88,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14625918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightmare_Taichou/pseuds/Nightmare_Taichou
Summary: Living in a high school dormitory, Kuroko, Kasamatsu, Takao, Imayoshi would usually play basketball with each other but that wasn't enough. However, they soon found an outlet for their frustration —streetball. Thus, the four boys along with Hayama—Takao's childhood friend, Himuro —Hayama's friend from America with the addition of Ogiwara and Nijimura took to the courts by storm calling themselves "RimFire".





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

Yukio was eight when he first met him.

The boy with the black hair who wore glasses and had an unbelievably deep accent. He'd met him by accident, Yukio managed to get lost while his aunt, uncle, cousin and younger brother were touring Osaka. It was a regular, every summer Yukio and his brother ― Mikio ― would visit their aunt and uncle and cousin in Osaka, they gave the port boys a tour of another port city. The two would yearn for summer every year, as they would receive gifts and souvenirs.

However, this year, Yukio had gotten lost. A mob of crowds had appeared from nowhere, and trying not to lose Mikio (he was just four), Yukio had shoved him closer to his aunt, making her hold his hand instead. But somewhere along the line, he had gotten separated from them and was now a crying mess as he didn't know what to do. He knew that he should always go to a police station but he didn't know where that was. And he was afraid to talk to strangers as he mother always said that they might kidnap him due to him being so cute.

Yukio was in a pinch indeed.

As he walked, he neared a streetball court where he heard the sounds of a ball bouncing. Finally encountering something familiar, Yukio quickly dashed towards the sound, only to see a little boy with black hair. He was alone but he was dribbling a basketball towards the net and when he tried to shoot, it bounced off the rim.

"Uh, hello." Yukio started. At least this stranger is a little boy like him, so no kidnapping possible.

"Ah, hello to you too." The boy replied. But he noticed the tear stained cheeks and red eyes and raised an eyebrow. "What you crying for?" he asked.

"I-I-I'm lost." Yukio managed to stutter out. "I don't know how to get back home."

"Hmm, you're not from around here are you?" Yukio shook his head. "Hear what, I can bring you home. Where do you live?"

And thus, Yukio began to tell the boy his aunt and uncle's address, and much to the boy's surprise, the black haired boy lives in the same neighbourhood. After minutes of walking, the boys had finally reached their neighbourhood, Yukio almost jumping for joy. The two boys were basically sprinting towards Yukio's home, and when they were at the gate, he turned to the black haired boy.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Kasamatsu Yukio. That's my name."

"Imayoshi Shouichi."

"Will I see you again?"

"I should be the one asking you that. I live here, remember?"

"I come here every summer with my little brother."

"Well, we'll see each other again. After all, I know where you live." He grinned.

And thus, every summer after that, Yukio and Mikio played basketball with Shouichi not only that, Shouichi went on tours with them as well, creating a bond of friendship.

And so the years passed, it was now time for them to enroll into high school. Yukio had chosen Kaijou High, but it was a distance from his house. Even though he lived in Kanagawa, his neighbourhood was by the sea, while Kaijou was further inland, close to the border of Tokyo.

"Yukio, your father and I have decided on something." His mother, Yukiko had said to him one day.

"What's that Mom?"

"For you to travel to school easier, we've decided to let you board at a dormitory." She gave her ten-million dollar smile that up to this day has got his father weak. "It's at the edge of Tokyo but you'll only have to take one train and plus, the train ride is just five minutes!"

Yukio at this point didn't know what to say. He wanted to leave but when he saw the look on his youngest brother ― Mitsuo's face, he almost felt like not going. He knew that Mikio wouldn't mind him leaving as long as he visited often. Yes, Yukio now has two brothers, whom he loves dearly and who dearly loves him.

"You can go Onii-chan." Mitsuo fought hard to hold back a sniff. He was eight after all, and his big brother was going to leave him. He held onto his legs to hide his face before busting out in full blown tears.

"Mitsuo, stop it." Mikio said rubbing his eyes. "You're going to make me cry too!"

Chuckling, Yukio then hugged his brothers. "I may be gone, but you can come look for me, as well as I can come look for you. And we'll basketball like always. How about that?"

"Hn!" Mitsuo nodded with a smile that rivals his mother's.

And with that said and done, one week later, Yukio was heading to the dormitory. On the ride there (his father drove him), he wondered what it would like, who would his roommate be and so on. He slumped in his seat, praying that the roommate would be someone that he could work with. He didn't want the next three years of his life to be utter hell after all.

After some minutes, Yukio had finally reached and was stunned. The two-storey building was painted in a lush green colour and at each window there was a canopy. The canopies were a lustrous white, almost blinding. He walked through the black metallic gate, for a moment he had to wonder if it was brand new. It shone like black oil in the mid-morning sun and when he entered he noticed that there was a pathway leading up to the house.

On both sides there were beautiful flowers, peonies, oleanders and narcissuses neatly decorated that gave the place a somewhat fairy tale feeling. He continued his trek and reached up the door. He pressed the doorbell.

The door opened and the person he saw left him in shock.

"Shou?!"

"Yuki?!"

"What are you doing here?!" both boys then asked each other. After seconds, they then bust out with laughter, Yukio then prompting Shouichi to talk first.

"I live in Osaka, remember?" He drawled.

"Yeah, and you're going to Touou in Tokyo. But I would have never guessed that I'd meet you _here_."

"Aren't you going to Kaijou? What are _you_ doing here? Your school is in the same prefecture!"

"Yeah, but it's further inland. I live at the sea, remember?" the two boys then erupted with laughter once again; Yukio then entered the building along with his father.

xxxx

Kazunari had a lively neighbour and the same could be said for his neighbour as well. He lived in a quiet neighbourhood, and just like every five-year old, he had a ' _bestest'_ friend. This was none other than his rowdy neighbour, Hayama Kotarou. He had golden hair and a small snaggle tooth and the brightest eyes that Kazunari had ever seen.

The two terrors would often time play with each other in their backyards, getting dirty and everything that a healthy five and six year old could. It was when they had turned six and seven that their fathers had brought them to watch a basketball game, and to both men's surprise, the two boys had fell in love with the sport so much that Kazunari wailed when it was time to go. Kotarou was the same, but his vocal cords couldn't hit the high notes like Kazunari's.

Both fathers were distressed at this, so to save them their ears and the look of worry on their wives faces later on, Kotarou's father decided to buy them a basketball. Seeing the bright orange ball, the boys had perked up and the tears had disappeared instantaneously, replaced by grins of joy and excitement.

From then on, the two boys learnt to play basketball, and watched every match under the sun. When their fathers couldn't take them, they somehow managed to get their mothers or uncles to. They would 'ooh' and 'aah' at their dunks, threes and crossovers. Their eyes would sparkle with admiration and this would immediately drive them to practice at a nearby streetball court.

The two boys grew up like this, playing basketball, Kotarou's skill being apparent in dribbling and Kazunari has a pair of eyes that made him a frightening playmaker. But one summer, Kotarou went on a family trip to America. Kazunari had never felt so empty and alone in his life before, and the black haired teen counted down the days when his best friend would return home.

But, he wasn't completely lonely. Kotarou kept in touch with him through international calls, informing him about his adventures in America. He told him all about their style of basketball and about a Japanese boy named Tatsuya who he'd met.

When summer was over and Kotarou had returned home, Kazunari immediately greeted the boy and the two would dash off to streetball court.

But the years soon pass and it was time for Kotarou to attend high school. Due to his skills and family prestige, he was going to attend Rakuzan high all the way in Kyoto, leaving Kazunari. The two felt like the world had ended, but Kotarou made plans to visit Kazunari whenever he could.

When it was Kazunari's time to attend high school, he decided to move to a dormitory, for selfish emotional reasons. His parents hadn't minded either; they felt that their son knew what was best for him. Since Kotarou had gone to Rakuzan, he'd move to live with his aunt. But the days were lonely, and due to homework and basketball practices, Kotarou couldn't visit as often as he would like. And thus, Kazunari would have to come home every day knowing that his best friend wasn't next door, after all, the two were inseparable.

Kazunari had arrived to the dormitory particularly fast; his mother was the one who dropped him off and his things. He inhaled, and then exhaled, hoping to make the best of this. But he silently prayed that he'd get along with his roommate and most of the people here or else his life for the next three years is going to be hell.

When they had entered the yard, the door opened revealing two teenagers, who were not that much taller than him. The one on the right had short black hair and thick eyebrows. He was staring at what Kazunari deduced to be a list, while the other walked with his hands in his pockets. He had long black hair and wore glasses. Upon seeing them, Kazunari stopped.

"Uh, hello," he uttered out. His mother was smiling behind him and nudging him in the back to talk up to the boys. She knew her son was far from shy.

"Hello to you too." The one with the glasses greeted. They then turned to Kazunari's mother and bowed respectfully to her.

"This is my son Takao Kazunari and he'll be living here. Please take of care him."

After she said that, the two boys exchanged glances.

"I'm Kasamatsu Yukio and this here is Imayoshi Shouichi."

"Nice to meet you." Kazunari responded. The two then moved off, heading through the gate while Kazunari and his mother went to meet the landlord.

xxxx

Hayama Kotarou never felt more alone in his life before. He was currently in America, on a family trip, and far away from Kazunari. At times like these, they could be playing basketball or going to watch a movie or something, but no, he has to come on this stupid family trip. He sighed miserably.

America wasn't bad so far, he just didn't like the atmosphere. He hated that whenever he talked, due his deep Japanese accent, people gave him funny looks. It pissed him off, he just wanted to hurry and go back home where he could play against Kazunari again. He loved to see the shocked expression of the raven-haired whenever he gets by him with his dribbling.

He was currently sitting in his room, gazing out the window. The streets were busy as always, something that's quite different from where he lived in Japan. But then, something caught his eye. He spotted a small black haired boy walking and casually spinning a ball on his finger. Kotarou's eyes lit up. With a mad dash, Kotarou flew downstairs right towards his father.

"Dad can I go out?" he asked.

"Go out? Where? Why?"

Kotarou sucked in a breath. "I saw a boy with a basketball just now. And I'm bored Dad! I miss Kazu so much but instead I'm here! It's only one match! Please, Dad?!"

Kotarou's father sighed. He knew that once the boy pulled out _that_ look, and if this reaches his mother and she pulls out the _same_ look, he'd be rendered powerless.

"Alright, but don't go too far or stay out too late."

"You can come if you want!" he chirped.

He sighed once more. "Fine," he succumbed.

Then quickly, the two got into his car and headed in the direction Kotarou saw the boy. After minutes of asking directions and following Kotarou's intuition, they finally found the boy, at a street ball court. Without even a word to his father, Kotarou undid his seatbelt and dashed out. Once more, Kotarou's father sighed. That child was far too energetic.

" _Uh, hello!"_ Kotarou chirped as he made his way to the court, which had about nine boys there. They all stopped and stared at him, a few raised their eyebrows. Kotarou's eyes were locked onto the black haired boy and he wondered if he was Japanese. _"Are you Japanese?"_ he then asked.

" _Yes, I am."_ He replied.

" _Finally! My name is Kotarou. And you are…?"_

" _Tatsuya."_

Kotarou then looked at the other boys and then he asked, _"Do you have room for one more? I'd like to play."_

Out of the mumblings, Kotarou could pick out 'Sure', and 'of course'. He immediately perked up and waved to his father who was by the fence. He ended up being on the same team as Tatsuya and three others, and they faced off against another team of five.

Throughout the match, the boys were stunned by Kotarou's dribbling skills, Tatsuya even praised him often. And this was the start of a friendship between Kotarou and Tatsuya.

For the rest of summer, Kotarou would meet up with Tatsuya and the two would go to the street ball court to play either one-on-ones or with a team. When the two weren't playing basketball, Kotarou would tell Tatsuya all about Kazunari and what they'd usually do back in Japan. Another time, Tatsuya would be Kotarou's tour guide, giving him a view of the best places that they are allowed to visit (without either set of parents worrying too much).

Soon, the summer vacation came to an end, and Kotarou had returned to Japan, but not without Tatsuya's contacts. He promised the raven-haired boy that he'd introduce him to Kazunari, after all, whenever he and Kazunari talked at home, he told him all about his matches and Tatsuya.

But the moment he'd reach back home, without even resting, he and Kazunari had dashed off to the basketball court. The two had fun, for the rest of the evening playing basketball laughing and chatting. However, Kotarou did not forget about Tatsuya. Through e-mail messaging, Kotarou and Kazunari were able to talk to Tatsuya, Kazunari sending a picture to the raven-haired and vice-versa.

Sooner than later, Kazunari and Tatsuya had become friends as well, but Kotarou was still his best friend. But soon, the years caught up and it was time for high school. Kotarou was sad that he'd go all the way to Rakuzan away from his best friend, but nonetheless, he and Kazunari had promised to stay in touch virtually and maybe on some weekends and holidays, he'd be able to visit.

xxxx

Kuroko Tetsuya wondered when it started to happen. He loved basketball but the current team that he's on, seems to have forgotten what the sport is all about. He was just coming from a match, one against Amagiri Middle School. They weren't bad in his eyes; actually, they were quite good. But as usual, as _always_ Teikou had won the match, crushing their opponents horribly. Tetsuya had felt something in his chest when he saw their faces, so he had decided to go apologize on his undeserving team's behalf.

When he had knocked on the locker room door, the moment the door opened, it seemed as though he was hit with a bomb of depression. The mood was so gloomy that the blue-haired boy felt sick. But nonetheless, he looked up at the coach and asked if he could enter.

"For what reason?" the man had asked.

"I want to apologize on my team's behalf."

Looking at the man's face, Tetsuya had a feeling that the coach was thinking that this may lighten the mood. With a shaky step, Tetsuya stepped forward but the moment they laid on him, the sickening atmosphere of depression turned into a murderous atmosphere full of rage. Before things got worse, Tetsuya bowed his head deeply and sincerely apologized. But none wanted that. Not too long ago, they were brutally humiliated in front of the entire nation…an apology would not suffice.

Sensing the danger, Amagiri's raven-haired point guard had swiftly moved and dragged the blue-haired boy outside. He wouldn't want to know what things would be like if they decided to get physical.

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

"Because my teammates did something that wasn't nice. I was just trying to make things right." Tetsuya answered. With yet another deep bow, he apologized. The raven couldn't find it in his heart to hate the guy. Sure, he, like the rest of his teammates were wishing that the Teikou players would all drop dead this very instant, but this boy in front of him was so sincere that he couldn't wish for him to meet a brutal end like his teammates.

"Alright, alright," He sighed. "I accept your apology. But I can't say the same for my teammates though." He said as he looked in the direction of the locker room. "Your teammates are evil, you know that?" his voice was cracking up at this moment.

"They weren't always like this." Tetsuya mumbled, but the boy heard anyway.

"I don't care," he said. "They destroyed hopes and dreams, they destroyed a team. We all know that losing is a part of life, but this…" he trailed off as he couldn't hold back the tears any longer. Seeing that the raven-haired was using his jersey to wipe his face, Tetsuya fished out a handkerchief out of his pocket and gave it to him.

"Here." Tetsuya said.

"Th-thanks." He uttered out. Without even a word, the boy had retreated to his locker room, leaving Tetsuya outside in the hallway.

Tetsuya watched with heartbreak at the boy's shaking back. As he walked away from him, he could hear the sobs getting louder and louder. Quickly moving off, he headed home.

And so championship continued with the same results. Teikou winning but at the cost of their opponents hopes, dreams, feeling, everything. Boys who had a passion for basketball had now hated the sport and resented Teikou even more. Tetsuya couldn't continue like this. So eventually, one day, he had quit his basketball club.

One evening, Tetsuya sat on a bench at a nearby park. He was going home from school, but he decided to take a detour. He felt so empty, so lonely now that he's quit basketball, but he was sure as hell that he'd never go back to that hellhole. He leaned his head backwards on the bench, and looked up at the sky.

"What are you doing sitting in a place like this?" a voice asked. Tetsuya leaned his head to look at the person. He knew he's heard this voice before but he doesn't know the person's name.

"I don't know," he answered when he saw who it was. It was the same raven-haired point guard from Amagiri Middle. "I just came here to enjoy the breeze and try to forget about basketball."

"What? Aren't you from Teikou? How do you forget about basketball?" he asked as he took a seat.

"Yes, but I quit." Tetsuya replied. He was starting to feel the tears coming but he fought it back.

"Really? Why would you do that?"

"They don't love basketball anymore and they aren't a team." Tetsuya couldn't fight it anymore. All of the horrid memories came gushing back into his head, and a tear escaped his eyes. Quickly, he turned his face away from the raven.

"Well, you're not the only one. My entire basketball team had resigned. No one had the drive to play basketball again." The raven then went into his bag and took out the same handkerchief that Tetsuya had given him. "Here. You need it this time, don't you?"

"Th-thanks." Tetsuya replied. He still tried to hide his face.

"I'm Takao Kazunari by the way," the raven said.

"Kuroko Tetsuya." He sniffed.

"Crying helps, you know. It may be embarrassing as hell, but if you let it all out, I guarantee that you'll feel a little bit better."

The moment Kazunari said so, Tetsuya's cries became wails. Not knowing what to do, after all, he is a stranger; Kazunari simply inched closer to the blue-haired boy, and placed a hand on his shoulder. After a minute or two, Tetsuya managed to calm down and wiped his face.

"Sorry," he said.

"Nah, it's fine." He responded.

But neither boy moved from that spot immediately. Instead, the two were engaged in a conversation spanning different topics due to Kazunari's talkative nature. When it was time for them to leave, they ended up exchanging numbers so that they can talk otherwise.

The two henceforth had developed a friendship, Kazunari telling Tetsuya about his best friend Kotarou and his other friend Tatsuya, who lives in America. During school days, they two would meet up at either a street court or at a restaurant and they would play basketball, or just have a conversation.

On weekends, Kazunari would bring along Kotarou, and the three would play ball. Tetsuya enjoyed it, and wished that he had met them earlier in his life. But, it was soon time for high school. Kazunari had informed him that he was going to Shutoku while he was going to Seirin. But they still made sure that they'll keep in touch.

It was a month before school started, and Tetsuya's parents had a business trip that would take them outside of the country. Not wanting to leave their son alone, they decided to make him live at a dormitory for the time being. Tetsuya didn't disagree; he was just uncomfortable with living with strangers. But his father had reassured him that they were all in his age group.

When the day had arrived, Hikaru drove his son to the dormitory and dropped him off with his things. Tetsuya was amazed at the building's infrastructure and the colour-scheme. With his things in his hands, and the remainder with his father, he walked up to the door. He pressed the doorbell, and not even a second later, there was the landlord. He was tall man with a black hair and warm dark eyes.

"Welcome." He greeted.

"Ah, thanks." Hikaru said. "This is Tetsuya, who will be in your care."

"Hello." Tetsuya said. The landlord jumped in shock as he hadn't noticed the blue-haired teen.

"Ah, welcome, welcome." He said. "You can leave your things here." He opened then turned his face to the left and called out. "Yukio-kun! Shouichi-kun! Kazunari-kun! I need your help for a moment!"

Upon hearing Kazunari's name, Tetsuya actually felt quite relieved. There was someone here that he was already familiar with. The three boys made their way towards them swiftly and as soon as Kazunari's eyes spotted Tetsuya, they sparkled with joy.

"Tetsu-chan!" he shouted. He then dashed towards the blue-haired boy and gave him a bone-crushing hug from behind. "Please room with me! Please, please, please!" he begged.

"Fine, Kazunari-kun." Tetsuya managed to say. "But please release me. I need to breathe."

"Oh sorry."

"Could you help Tetsuya with his luggage? I will be speaking with his father for a little bit."

"Uh sure," Tetsuya heard the boy with the short black hair answered. With that, the three boys took whatever they can and went up the stairs, leaving the two adults. But as they went, Kazunari started his chatting and dragged the rest of them into it.

xxxx

A week had passed since Tetsuya moved in, and the boys have gotten quite used to each other. When they had found out that they all played basketball, the boys couldn't help but laugh out loud.

It was a Friday, Kazunari, Shouichi and Tetsuya had gone out to buy some groceries. On their way back, they encountered a flyer advertising a street ball competition to be held on Saturday. All three had a grin on their faces, as it was still summer vacation and they were itching to play a match against other people and not their regular two-on-two.

Kazunari had wasted no time, he fished out his phone and dialled Kotarou's number. When the boy had picked up, Kazunari told him that he wanted him to participate in a street ball competition come Saturday. The boy on the other side perked up and gave a positive response.

"So what did he say?" Shouichi asked.

"It's Ko-chan. Of course he'd say yes." Kazunari grinned. "We're all set for tomorrow."

"Wait until Yuki hears about this." Shouichi chuckled. "He's going to be excited but he's going to try to play it off cool."

And so, within a couple minutes, the boys had reached home. Not even waiting, Kazunari had told Yukio about the competition. And just as Shouichi said, he was excited but acted like he didn't want to jump for joy.

"But we only have four people." He started. "Wait, is Kotarou coming?"

"Best believe it." Kazunari grinned. "He'll be here by this evening."

There was silence. Shouichi couldn't believe how fast that boy was moving. It wasn't even an hour ago that Kazunari had called him and he was coming already? He couldn't help but laugh. He then moved to the kitchen with Yukio following, they were going to start dinner. Kazunari was their resident juice mixer, and Tetsuya…well, if they wanted boiled eggs, that'll be his job. He never cooks. Instead, he sets the table and such.

When they settled into their rhythm, Yukio and Shouichi were busying themselves around the stove, while Kazunari was at the other counter in front of a blender and ingredients beside him. Kazunari sung out loud 'I'm so excited', Yukio and Shouichi only joined in at the parts where they knew the lyrics, which, sadly, were only the first two lines of the chorus. Tetsuya laughed as he sets the table, trying his best not to drop the glass plates.

Soon, Kotarou had arrived, and Shouichi had to glance at the clock. _Well, they don't call it Bullet Train for nothing._ The boy was the usual ball of sunshine; he had visited one weekend before. He was in the area and Kazunari wanted him to meet the others.

Dinner-time was noisy, Kotarou and Kazunari contributing the most. They chatted about all sorts of things, and pulling the others into it as well…not that they minded. But one thing was on their minds and that was the street ball competition tomorrow.

xxxx

It was now time for the competition, the boys made it to the venue on time. Yukio twitched with annoyance, as Kotarou and Kazunari were behaving like four year olds who just received a brand new toy. Shouichi chuckled at Yukio's expression, and he was counting down the time when Yukio will burst.

_Three. Two. One._

"Will you two calm down!?" he roared, giving them a kick to go with it.

_There we go._

"Yu-chan, that hurt." Kazunari pouted.

"You're brutal." Kotarou added.

"Jeez, you two are giving me a migraine." He said. "Just behave like teenagers will you?"

"Yes Papa." Kazunari and Kotarou teased.

Tetsuya could sense the danger so before Yukio bursts a blood vessel, he quickly pushed the dark haired teen towards the tent. "We have to sign up, remember Yukio-kun?"

"Ah right." He said, calming down. Meanwhile, Shouichi had to turn his face away let out his chuckle. He couldn't laugh out loud; he knew that Yukio would kill him later if he did. But he really couldn't help himself. Yukio, Kazunari and Kotarou together in the same place were just too funny.

"Wait, we haven't decided on our name." Kotarou said. "What'll it be?"

"Oh, maybe we could use our initials." Shouichi suggested, still fighting down the laugh.

"That'll be K,K,T,S,Y." Kazunari started. "Hmm, then S.K.Y.T.K?"

"Hell no." Yukio said. "Can't we think of a better name?"

And so the four boys stood pondering on a good name for their group. They hadn't noticed Tetsuya slipping away and walking up to the tent to sign them up. Tetsuya had returned but they still hadn't noticed as they were _still_ thinking on a name.

"I've got nothing." Kotarou finally said. "Should we just sign up as 'Blank' or something?"

"You must be joking." Yukio said. "We aren't leaving here until we can find a decent name."

"Ano," Tetsuya finally spoke up. "I've already signed us up."

"WHAT?!" the boys roared.

"Don't tell me…you used the initials thing?!" Yukio asked, looking as though if Tetsuya had said yes, he'd faint.

"No."

"Then what did you use?" Kazunari asked.

"RimFire."

They were silenced. They looked at each other and then smiled.

"That name's not half bad. How'd you think it up?" Yukio asked.

"I just thought that since we play basketball and have such a passion for it, that name would be befitting."

"Let me guess, 'Fire' would represent our 'burning' love for the sport and 'Rim' would be basketball…am I close?" Shouichi asked.

"Exact." Tetsuya answered.

"At least one of us was able to come up with something useful." Yukio said, shooting Kazunari a look.

"But at least I came up with _something._ " He countered in a playful tone. Kotarou cracked up with laughter, and Shouichi had to be the one to calm them down. They then moved off, trying to find something to kill time until it was time for their match.

They had nestled in the green grass, each sipping on his favourite beverage. Their conversation had spanned many topics having them laughing and arguing (attempted to murder in Yukio's case). They hadn't realized the time until they heard the announcement.

" _Will team RimFire report to the street court. Team RimFire, please report to the street court."_

"Shit! It's time already?!" Kotarou asked, looking at his phone screen.

"Come on boys," Shouichi said as he got up, Yukio was already on his feet. Yukio then took a step forward and Shouichi then fell into step with him, the others then followed behind them.

"It's time to make our debut." Yukio smirked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this is centred on Streetball, the matches won't be divided into four quarters with ten minutes each as streetball rules are different from an official match in a gym. 
> 
> Also, the boys are the same age as in canon.

 

 

"So how was your first week of basketball practice?" Shouichi asked. The four boys were sitting in Yukio and Shouichi's room, playing cards. Unlike Kazunari and Tetsuya's room which was painted in blue and grey, their room was painted in white. To the left, anyone who entered could see that that side belonged to Yukio. His wall had posters of people playing a guitar, the faces weren't shown. While to the right of the room, the wall was bare.

"It wasn't that bad." Tetsuya answered as he passed a card to Kazunari. "In fact, it was normal. The regime is as brutal as Teikou was."

"Practice was brutal yes, but you wouldn't _believe_ what happened to me." Kazunari started as he took the card. He then rearranged the cards in his hands before passing one to Yukio. "I'm on the same team as Midorima Shintarou. That guy is so weird, I can't help but to laugh every time I see him." Kazunari chuckled. "Could you believe that every day, he comes to school with a new lucky item from Oha-Asa horoscope? And his speech! There hasn't been a sentence that he's never ended with 'nanodayo'!" He deepened his voice to imitate the green-haired boy.

"That's the least of your problems." Yukio sighed as he passed a card to Shouichi. "At least you don't have a model on your team. There hasn't been a single practice that a horde of wildcats don't attack."

The boys erupted with laughter.

"Horde of wildcats?" Kazunari guffawed. "What breed are they? Lion? Tiger?"

"Fangirls. The most dangerous."

That made it even worse. The boys roared with laughter, hearing what Yukio said, coupled with his facial expression made it impossible to keep a straight face. That said, Tetsuya, whose face is always devoid of expression, had on a smile.

"Please, at least neither of you has a teammate that doesn't show up to practice with a philosophy that 'the only one who can beat me is me'." Shouichi rolled his eyes. He then took the card from Yukio.

"That sucks." Kazunari said.

"At least you weren't on the _same_ team with _all_ of them." Tetsuya said as he slowly dropped his cards. "None of you should be complaining."

"Hmm that's true." Shouichi said. He then rearranged the cards in his hands and then passed to Kazunari. It was then that they realized that they were seeing cards, right-side up on the floor.

"Shit!" the boys flung down their hands, and frantically looked to one another.

"You dropped last!" Kazunari shouted, pointing a finger at Yukio. "My hawk-eyes never miss anything!"

"What? You think this is a basketball court!?" Yukio countered. "You're the one who dropped last! Seeing that Shou had just given you a card, you were focused on your hand!"

"No I wasn't!" the raven-haired argued.

Shouichi sighed. When it came onto card games, Yukio and Kazunari somehow always find themselves at odds with each other, strangely. Especially when it comes onto this one, 'Pass 'round Donkey'. Tetsuya chuckled at their bickering, Shouichi decided to intervene. It seemed that every time this happens, he'd have to play the role of the arbitrator as this will not settle until one of them was found guilty.

"Alright, alright." He started. "I'm the one who dropped last."

"No! I will not have this! Kazunari, just admit it!" Yukio shouted.

"No, you just admit it!"

"Ano, who had these cards?" Tetsuya asked as he picked up the four that were on top. "Whoever dropped last their cards would be on the top, right?"

"That's ―" however, Shouichi didn't get to finish his sentence. A ring had cut him off; it was coming from beside Kazunari. It was loud, and the song played was from OLDCODEX.

"Let me take this." When he looked at the screen and saw the caller I.D, a grin graced his face. "Ko-chan!" he shouted as he answered. He then put the phone on speaker so that everyone could hear.

" _Yo! Are we all set for tomorrow?!"_ he chirped.

"Believe it." Kazunari answered. "So are you coming this evening?"

" _No, I can't. I plan to finish all my homework today so that I'll be free tomorrow."_ He groaned aloud. " _These equations aren't fun."_

"Is it math?" Yukio asked.

" _Yeah, sadly."_ The stressful sigh could be heard.

"Shou and I could help you. We've been through that before, remember?"

There was silence on the other-end of the line. The four boys looked at each other and wondered if the call had been disconnected. But when Kazunari checked it, nothing was wrong.

" _I'm coming over immediately!"_ he shouted. _"We have to get this work done by this evening so that we can demolish the court tomorrow!"_

"You know, we still have Sunday. And I'm pretty sure that we won't take the entire Saturday playing street ball." Shouichi joined in. "Just relax, Kotarou. Yuki and I will do our best to tutor you." The look on Shouichi's face made the others cringe and feel sorry for Kotarou. Shouichi and Yukio's tutoring was merciless.

xxxx

The park was busy and noisy, full of chatter and laughter. It was the day of the street ball competition, and the boys were in high spirits. Especially RimFire. Kotarou and Kazunari were especially bubbling with joy, as once more, they get to play street ball and show off what they'd been doing for the past week. But more so, they loved to the see the shocked expressions of the players whenever Tetsuya comes in for a steal or does any of his crazy passes. It was always priceless.

They then made their way further inwards the park, Yukio going off to sign them up, Kotarou and Kazunari getting them food, Shouichi and Tetsuya looked at the other teams to see what they would be up against. Even though they won't know their play style, by looking at a player's body structure, they can _assume_ who plays what position. They aren't a hundred percent right, but their accuracy is over fifty percent.

After they were done and they met up underneath a huge oak tree, Shouichi and Tetsuya began to relate their observations. When the boys were finished with that, they then ate, chatting in-between making strategies for their matches. After thirty minutes or so, it was time for the matches to begin. Quickly, they got up and headed towards the court, to watch the first match. They were match three either way.

xxxx

RimFire's matches went on without hitch. They had completely overwhelmed their opponents, Yukio's experience in point guarding allowed him to create plays with Tetsuya, Kazunari's hawk-eyes allowed him to pass to Shouichi and Kotarou without fail. Sometimes, it allowed him to shoot with ease, as he could see a defender coming to block him from a mile away. He'd usually use the double clutch in this instance, all his years playing with Kotarou and living with Shouichi paid off.

Kotarou's dribbling made it difficult for his opponents to block him or to take the ball, well; he wasn't nicknamed the 'Raiju' for no reason. What's even worse, he isn't even using all five of his fingers. As the power forward, he'd storm in and either slam the ball into the net or make a layup. It all depends on how fired up he is.

Shouichi seemed to be rooted at the three point line. The moment RimFire goes on the offense, with Yukio at the top of the circle and everyone else further inwards; he stays at that spot, should Yukio decide to pass to him. Of course, Tetsuya aids in this.

In that regard, the crowd is always amazed by the passes. Since Tetsuya is basically invisible on court, and with the others' presences overshadowing him, he seemed to be a ninja. He slips through defense like it's a walk in the park; he gets the ball around to whoever he deems to, or whoever Yukio indicates to.

As for their opponents, they'd often time be puzzled by RimFire's behavior. Their point guard (Yukio) is dangerous whenever he feels like sinking three pointers. Almost as though he's a shooting guard. RimFire's shooting guard (Shouichi) behaves a lot like a seasoned point guard whenever their point guard feels like shooting.

Their small forward (Kazunari) has a ridiculous passing sense to rival any point guard and in one match, their opponents felt as though RimFire had three point guards. As for their power forward (Kotarou), their opponents often felt that he's more fit to be a small forward. He's extremely versatile and what's worse, he isn't even that tall to be a power forward.

And lastly, their mysterious player (Tetsuya). No one has ever seen him make shots, hell, no one has ever seen him during the matches. He just appears whenever he's stealing the ball or passing it to his teammates. To them, he was the most dangerous as one will never know where he is, when he's going to strike, and who he's going to pass to.

Yes, the crowd and everyone they played concluded, RimFire was dangerous.

xxxx

"We're at the finals!" Kotarou cheered. "And I was having so much fun!" he pouted as after this, he'd go back home with the others and finish up his homework.

"This really has been fun. Every time we play street ball, I have a blast." Tetsuya joined in.

"Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if we on the same team for school." Kazunari said. "It'll be pretty cool, don't you think?"

"Of course it would be." Yukio answered. "At least I wouldn't have to deal with that repulsive blond." He seethed.

"Yu-chan, you're still hung up on that?!" Kazunari laughed. "Seriously?"

"Yes he is." Shouichi said. "And I keep telling him at least he sees his ace. At Touou, only the manager and our shooting guard sees him because they're classmates."

"Well shit, that sucks." Kotarou said. "But _none_ of you should be complaining. At least you don't have a tyrannical _first year_ captain who thinks he's absolute." Yukio and Shouichi drew back, raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" Yukio's voice entered a falsetto. "First year _captain_? Who does he think he is?"

"Now even I have a problem with that. No matter how good he is, that position is usually for third years. It is hardly seen when a second year gets it but damn. What is it? He's too good for anything less than the captain position?"

"He'll tell you 'I am Akashi Seijuurou and I am absolute. You have no right to question my authority'." Kotarou did a poor job at imitating the redhead. "Trust me, if I had known that he'd be coming to Rakuzan, I would have never gone in the first place."

"That's Akashi-kun for sure." Tetsuya said as he nodded. "Good job, Kotarou-kun."

"Tsch, this is just pissing me off even more. Why is it that the Generation of Miracles are such brats?" Yukio sighed. "I swear, Kise causes my blood pressure to skyrocket every day."

"With Akashi, he'll be like 'did I give you permission to raise your blood pressure?' or something like that." Kotarou joked.

"Pfft!" Kazunari erupted with laughter. "Man, that Akashi guy sounds like the worst one of them all!" The others were roaring with laughter as well, Tetsuya knew for a fact that the crazy Akashi that had emerged would have probably said that.

"He always wants to be in control. Honestly, he creeps the shit out of me."

While he was laughing, Shouichi had taken out his phone to view the time. "Guys, it's time we head back to the court." He said, still chuckling. With wobbling feet, the boys managed to stand, what Kotarou had said was still resounding.

Finally ceasing the laughter, the boys then moved off, heading towards the court area. There were people heading there as well, far many more than when the other matches were being played. This was a usual thing either way. People tend to gather for the finals of any sporting event than the preliminaries.

Soon, they neared the court, but Kazunari's eyes spotted the team that they were going up against. He'd never seen them before, not when he was in middle school so he had thought that they were at least high school seniors.

"Have you ever played them before?" Shouichi asked Yukio.

"Nope. Not in middle school nor in high school. They're probably far older than us." He replied. This answered Kazunari's curiosity. Since Yukio and Shouichi have never met them before and they were third years, then that means, these people are at least in their last year of college.

"Well, let's do what we have to." Kotarou grinned.

"Yep, let's burn up this court, RimFire style." Kazunari added.

While on the other hand, the opposing team couldn't believe that this was RimFire that they've heard so much about.

"Hey, Yamamoto, aren't they a bit too small?" the one who wore the blue headband said. He was the smallest of the team.

"I suppose so." Yamamoto answered. "What do you think, Fuse?"

"They are small." He was the biggest of them all, looking thick and powerful.

Once they had assembled, the referee walked onto the court with a ball in his hand. The two teams lined up before each other and bowed, as is customary. The opposing team, Blue Danger were donned in their matching blue t-shirts and black pants. RimFire was in the usual, white t-shirts and varying they had all got into position, he took a step closer and blew his whistle, throwing the ball upwards for tip-off.

Shouichi was the one who faced off for the ball. He barely jumped however, as their centre (he deduced) was far taller than him. There's no way he would've gotten that ball even if he put all his strength into his legs.

The moment Fuse passed the ball to Yamamoto who was to his right, Tetsuya went in and knocked the ball from his hands. He then sent it rocketing downwards to Kotarou who was already making his way to the net. It landed firmly in his left palm and with swift movements, he made a layup.

Blue Danger was left in shock. Neither of them saw when Tetsuya had come up to their point guard, and even though they had heard people talking about RimFire having some sort of ghost player, hearing about it and experiencing it was two different things.

"Get the ball!" Yamamoto shouted. His hair was hidden by a blue tam. "This is no time to be in a daze!" RimFire was already on the defense, awaiting their assault.

Fuse had retrieved the ball, and then passed it to the player on the far left of the court. "Heads up Yonebayashi!" The player who he passed to was the shortest out of all of them with a ragged hairstyle. He then dribbled towards Yukio who was at the top of the circle. He dribbled on the spot, looking at his available options.

At the right wing there was Shouichi with Yamamoto. And judging by the way he looked, Shouichi's defense was giving him a hell of a time to get into position. In the paint area there was Kotarou with a member who wore the blue headband. Under the net was Fuse only, and at the left wing, their other member was free.

"Tachibana!" Yonebayashi shouted. He then passed the ball to the boy; he was as tall as Fuse but not as thick. He received the ball easily, and then made his way to the net. By the time he reached in the paint area of the court, he went into a jump stop and made a shot.

However, what they failed to notice was Yukio already heading into their half. Kazunari had retrieved the ball and then passed it to Tetsuya who swiftly redirected it to Yukio, who already in position. Effortlessly, he made the three, leaving the members of Blue Danger gasping in shock once again.

 _The speed at which they pass the ball is too fast!_ Yonebayashi thought.

When Yukio returned to their half, Shouichi gave him a high five. Kotarou ruffled Tetsuya's hair and exchanged a fist-bump with Kazunari. Then all of them grinned savagely. When Blue Danger saw this, they immediately had chills running down their spines. Right now, RimFire was at five while they were at two, but Yonebayashi had a feeling that something dangerous was coming.

He dribbled the ball, and looked about him. He could only see four players of RimFire, but no matter how hard he tried to spot the fifth, he couldn't. Everyone, including himself was guarded by someone except his shooting guard. He smirked at this. Yukio caught the look on his face, and couldn't help but to chuckle.

"Moritaka!" he called out and did a bounce pass to the shooting guard. However, the lanky youth didn't receive it. Instead, Tetsuya came in and snatched the ball, Kazunari, Kotarou and Yukio then running off, and catching up to the blue-haired teen. Blue Danger fell into chase as well; Fuse, Yamamoto and Tachibana thundering towards them.

Quickly, Tetsuya then passed the ball to Kazunari who upon receiving it couldn't help but to smirk. Kotarou was nearby on his right while Yukio was on his left. With his pair of eyes, passing would be a piece of cake.

But Moritaka was quick enough to block the raven's path, he still saw him coming either way.

"Ko-chan's free!" he shouted as he bounced the ball backwards between his legs. Tetsuya quickly redirected it to Kotarou who upon receiving it, stormed through towards their net. But Fuse will not allow it. He blocked the smaller boy's way to the net but little did he know what Kotarou was capable of.

He bounced the ball once.

The sound was so loud that the onlookers had to cover their ears.

He bounced the ball a second time.

Blue Danger was getting annoyed by the sound, Fuse keeping a close eye on the ball nonetheless. It was when Kotarou had reached the fourth bounce that Fuse realized that the ball was disappearing from his sight. And then, before he knew it, Kotarou passed him with a right-to-left crossover and jumped to make a bank shot.

"No you don't!" Yamamoto shouted as he jumped to block the boy. However, glancing to his left, he saw that Yukio was at the three-point line, Tetsuya and Kazunari was close by him and Shouichi was by the left wing. With swift movements, he passed the ball behind him to Tetsuya who redirected it to Yukio. With a savage grin, he sunk it.

"Shit!" Yamamoto cursed as he retrieved the ball. He then passed it to Yonebayashi who slowly made his way back to RimFire's half of the court. Once more, he came up on Yukio, and this time, he couldn't get the ball pass him. His defense was good, and what he noticed was that the others were just the same. It was then that it dawned on him, on all of them, that previously, RimFire was just feeling them out.

He continued to dribble, looking for the best action. Tachibana was being marked by Kotarou, Yamamoto was being marked by Shouichi, Moritaka had Kazunari but Fuse was the only one unmarked. However, he knew that their ghost player was lurking somewhere out there, it's only sad that he couldn't see him. And he knew that if he were to try to pass to Fuse, he just knew that the ball would be stolen.

However, in his deep thinking he failed to notice when Tetsuya had come up to him. He knocked the ball from his hands, Shouichi running up in time to catch it. Then swift movements, he did a chest pass to Yukio while Kotarou and Kazunari had run on ahead.

Yonebayashi tried to block Yukio but as soon as he did so, Yukio went into a full drive and dashed past the boy. As soon as he got around him, he bounced the ball to Tetsuya who then swiftly, sent it rocketing Kazunari. He dashed forwards but that was when Moritaka had arrived. Without even a hitch, he gave the ball to Kotarou who was close by but then quickly past Moritaka to get into a position to receive back.

"It's a One-Two Moritaka!" Tachibana shouted. But it was too late. Kazunari had already received the ball from his best friend and was already at the net. He made his shot, bringing RimFire up to ten while Blue Danger hadn't moved.

The crowd was raving at this, the commentators getting them pumped up as well. As the boys made their way back, they gave each other high-fives, while Blue Danger was left in shock. But they quickly restarted, and so they were determined to catch up to RimFire. Seeing that RimFire's players are all shorter than Tachibana, Yamamoto and Fuse, Yonebayashi decided to make sure of them instead. He'd always pass to either of the two boys, and then they would do an overhead pass to the other. It was pissing RimFire off, seeing that whenever they do this, they can't the ball.

But, Tetsuya _hates_ losing. After all, he went to Teikou for middle school. Whenever they were on offense, he'd only pass the ball to Yukio or Shouichi, as these two shoots only threes. What is more, picking up on Blue Danger's tactic, he made it his mission to steal the ball from Yonebayashi or Moritaka at all times, quickly redirecting it to his teammates.

But that didn't mean Kotarou nor Kazunari were left out. The two were also given the ball (just not as often as Shouichi and Yukio), and they would definitely create a storm. Kotarou's dribbling left them stunned and unable to move, Kazunari's eyes allowed him to pick up on their mistakes, steal the ball and get around to his teammates.

In addition to that, his and Kotarou's partnership was lethal. In one instance, Moritaka had come to block Kazunari, but with his eyes, he was able to pass the ball behind his back to Kotarou who was at an angle away from him. The boy then dribbling ferociously against Tachibana and made his shot.

Back and forth the two teams went, but it was apparent who would be the winner. RimFire had the most ball possession due to Tetsuya and Kazunari. Yukio and Shouichi brought up their score with their threes, Kotarou evading Fuse's blocks with his double clutch.

Within no time, RimFire had reached nineteen points, while Blue Danger was struggling on eleven. And sadly, even though it was their possession, Yonebayashi knew that they won't be able to make this shot.

However, he kept his fingers crossed. He dribbled the ball and without even reaching the top of the circle as usual, Yukio was already blocking his way. He cursed under his breath, and frantically looked across to see where his teammates were. Tachibana and Fuse were to his left at the wing with Kazunari, while at his right there was Moritaka and Yamamoto with Shouichi and Kotarou.

In his state, he didn't realize that this was a plot by RimFire to get him to pass the ball. And when he did, Kazunari dashed off the same moment Tetsuya intercepted the pass. The raven-haired received the ball with ease and made his way down towards Blue Danger's net. But Tachibana and Fuse were in hot pursuit. The moment they reached a close enough distance to Kazunari, he did the strangest thing. He spun on his right leg and turned to face them. The instance he done so, he bounced the ball between the two and it ended up right into Kotarou's waiting hands.

Both Yukio and Shouichi were already in position to make a shot anytime, so the boy then passed the ball to the person who was closer ― Shouichi. With ease and precision, he landed the shot, bringing them up to twenty-two.

The referee then blew his whistle, signaling the end of the match. Since, it was a street ball game, they'd play only until they reached twenty-one points. Blue Danger was left feeling a myriad of emotions. They were sad that they lost, shocked at RimFire's crazy passes and impressed at their overall skill. At first glance, they seemed to be normal, average. But on the court, they were ferocious.

"Game over! Twenty-two to Twelve, RimFire!"

"Thank you very much!"

The crowd erupted with cheers when the match ended, chanting 'RimFire' over and over again. The boys were grinning from ear-to-ear and then moved on to shake the members of Blue Danger's hands. Afterwards, they moved on to the tent to receive their prize.

xxxx

The four boys entered through the door noisily, chatting and laughing. Another street ball competition was conquered, and they felt as though they were in heaven.

"Ah, that was a good match." Kotarou said as he plopped himself down in the sofa. "Blue Danger weren't bad."

"That's right." Shouichi joined in. "It makes me realize that we need a centre. Or someone with height."

"Yeah," Kazunari drawled. "But you know, anything that we're lacking in we always make up for it, right?" he grinned.

"But did you see the looks on their faces when Tetsuya stole the ball from their point guard?" Yukio bust with laughter. "It was priceless!"

"To be honest, that never gets old." Kotarou grinned. "It never does."

Kazunari then looked up at the clock and saw that it was a little pass three o'clock. He then grinned. Beckoning to the others to follow him, they then took their trek up to his and Tetsuya's room and turned on his laptop.

"Hey, do you realize that it is early morning in America right now?" Yukio said. Seeing that the boy turned on his laptop, he knew what he was going to do. "He's probably asleep."

"Probably, the key word." Kotarou grinned. "Plus, I doubt Tatsuya will be sleeping right now. I think he's become nocturnal because of us."

"Us?" Yukio said. "You! The two of you!" he said pointing Kazunari as well.

"Well, you join in so, I don't see why you aren't included."

" _Do you realize how early it is over here?"_ The voice that sounded throughout the room took them out of their conversation.

"Tatsuya!" the four cheered in glee. The black haired boy on the computer screen looked disheveled, his hair sticking out in all directions.

" _Good morning, to you too."_ He yawned. _"It's Friday, you know. The last day where people have school to attend._ "

"Well, it's Saturday for us. The day that people destroy street ball courts!" Kotarou chirped.

Tatsuya's face brightened. _"Wait, you guys won another competition? You're on a roll!"_

"Of course," Yukio joined in. "We are RimFire after all."

" _Man, I can't wait to come back to Japan. You guys seem like you're having fun."_

"Seem? Tatsuya, we are." Shouichi said, showing off. "So when are you coming back?"

Tatsuya groaned in what seemed to be agony. _"My Dad said maybe by summer._ "

"But that's not far." Tetsuya joined in. "Summer is right around the corner."

" _That's not it Tetsuya, I'll be living in Akita._ " Tatsuya answered. _"Cold, freezing, Akita. And plus, do you know how far that it from you guys?! I doubt that even if I do come back, I won't be able to play street ball with you."_

The boys were silenced at this. Looking at each other, they wondered if they could find a solution to the problem.

"Why don't you attend a school that nearby us?" Kazunari asked. "Or maybe, you could beg your dad to live here with us. And then if he wants to see you, he can come visit."

" _Hmm, I don't know about that."_

"Tatsuya's dad is so overprotective that you'd think he's a girl." Kotarou said with a sigh. "While I was in America and Tatsuya gave me tours, every five minutes his dad called, wondering where he is."

"Shit." Yukio said. "That's…I don't even know what to say."

" _Yeah, that's how he is. But how was the match?"_ he then asked to deviate away from that topic. That seemed to hit something for the boys. Right away Kotarou began telling him about Blue Danger, the others dropping in the parts were they were being awesome.

After minutes of chatting and Tatsuya complaining that he needed sleep, they ended their conversation and Kazunari closed down the laptop.

"Now, Kotarou," Shouichi grinned as he and Yukio got up. "Where were we?"

Kotarou blanched. "We just got back from winning a competition, can't we celebrate a little?"

"We can do that after you finish your homework." Yukio said as he pointed to the door. "Now let's go."

"Hai, hai," he groaned out as he made his way to the door. Tetsuya and Kazunari stifling down their laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

 

The gymnasium was filled with the sounds of heavy panting and the squeaks of shoes. Yukio's voice could be heard above all, barking out orders to the team. They were playing the usual five on five, regulars versus the bench. While it was swinging in favour of his team, Yukio didn't like what was going on one bit. Every time that Kise was passed the ball, the blond would then go in and do his own his thing.

Sure, the blond was an awesome player, Yukio gave him props for that, but he lacked teamwork. And that will be a severe blow if this continues into Inter-High. Throughout this match so far, there were many times that the blond could have chosen to pass to Moriyama or him or to Hayakawa, but he refused. Well, to Yukio, it seemed as though 'passing to teammates' isn't in his book.

Yukio sighed. It even wasn't as though they had agreed to let him do his own thing and they'll back him up, he just doesn't care about the rest of them. It irritated him, and he began to wonder just how Tetsuya stayed in a team with him and four others. It just didn't make any sense.

After some minutes, the match ended, Yukio's team being the winner. However, to them, it felt more Kise had won the match. And what's worst, the blond shrugs it off like it's nothing. Unable to stay quiet, Yukio marched over to where Kise was and called out to him.

"What is it Senpai?" he asked.

"You know, you could learn to pass the ball more." Yukio started. "In Inter-High, you're going to be targeted. Remember that basketball is team sport." He made sure to sure a safe tone, as he didn't want the blond to think that he's biting his head off.

"Why? If I can make the shot, then I will. Passing isn't important."

Yukio twitched. "Yes it is. What I'm saying is that you should learn to pass so that it will lessen the workload you have. If you don't work with us, we won't work with you. Imagine in a match, you have the ball but there's a defender on you that you can't pass, Kobori could help you get around a defender by screening him out. Now imagine if we aren't united as a team. Right there, you'll pick up a foul for either holding the ball too long or forcing your way through and probably knock down the defender."

"Oh." Was all the blond could say.

"That said, trust us. We're a team." But then his voice got gruff. "And show up to practice! If you love modelling more than basketball don't come back here! We've got people on the bench who have been contributing long before you have. I'm sure we can make do with what we've got here." With that, he then walked off going off to where Moriyama and the others were. He was still a bit upset, as what Kise had said really ticked him off.

 _These Teikou brats,_ Yukio thought with a sigh. _I still can't understand how Tetsuya hadn't ended up like them somewhere along the line._

He was then taken out of his thoughts by Takeuchi's whistle. The chubby man then indicated that they should assemble, as he had something to say. When everyone had gathered, he then spoke.

"We're having a practice match with Seirin two days from now." He started. There were whispers flying about, the most prominent one being 'which school is that?'. "We'll be playing on half-court. I don't want to stop the others from practicing."

"What?" Yukio asked in shock. "Coach, you can't do that!"

"Hmm? Is there a problem Kasamatsu?" he asked. "They're a new school. It's not like they'll put up much of a fight anyway."

"Coach," Yukio started, his tone was dead serious. "Not because they're new that doesn't mean they aren't capable. We have to take them serious."

Takeuchi sighed. "Kasamatsu, they _won't_ be that much of a threat."

Yukio held his tongue. He then nodded, and dropped the argument. He decided that he'll let him see just what kind of monster Tetsuya could be. But then again, when Tetsuya sees that they'd be playing on half-court, _he'll_ be the one to feel the blunt of his anger. Yukio sighed. An upset Tetsuya is far worse than a storm.

xxxx

At Shutoku, Kazunari was once more drowning in their training regimes, often times vomiting as well. This was the only place that he wasn't his usual cheery self, as one, the new school year has just started and two, he doesn't know anyone.

As he returned inside the gym after emptying his stomach, he took notice of Midorima shooting. The boy was graceful with his shots, but not only that, their coach had given them a chance to break and he was still practicing. Even though Kazunari found the guy weird, seeing this, made him start changing his outlook of him.

 _He's always practicing._ Kazunari said as he watched the boy. _That must be tough to continuously pick and shoot the balls like that._

So, with that thought, Kazunari took his merry way to the green-haired shooter and introduced himself.

"Yo!" he greeted. All he got for a reply was a grunt. Sighing, Kazunari then walked over to where a stray ball was and took it up. He bounced it twice, watching Midorima as he did so. The moment he saw the boy release the ball and it crashed into the net, he bounced the ball towards the shooter.

Midorima looked at him with shock. "Why did you do that?"

"Aww come on Midorima. We're teammates, we should help each other out." He chirped his response.

"Hmph." Midorima said, pushing his glasses further up his nose bridge. "Do whatever you want."

"You could have simply said yes, you know Shin-chan."

Midorima twitched. "What?"

xxxx

Kotarou collapsed onto his fours inside the gymnasium. The team had just finished running suicides, but prior to that, they were doing pushups and sit-ups. He felt like he was dying. He couldn't help himself to look across to Akashi and he saw that the boy was fine. He was drenched in sweat just as they were, but he looked like he could go another round.

"You can't be serious." Kotarou said aloud, but not loud enough for everyone to hear. "Just what is he?" He then reached for his water bottle and chugged down the liquid.

 _I wonder how everyone else is doing._ He thought.

xxxx

"I'm home." Yukio drawled as he took off his shoes at the front.

"Welcome back." the landlord greeted with a smile. He was busying himself by the stove, cooking their dinner. Ever since they started back school and had basketball practice, he was the one who prepared their dinner as they were always so tired and worn out, that cooking was next to impossible.

"Tanaka-san," Yukio said. He hadn't noticed that the man was there. He had thought that Shouichi or one of the boys were present.

Tanaka chuckled as he stirred the pot. "You look as exhausted as the rest. Go on and freshen up, I'm making curry today."

"Alright." With that, Yukio dashed up the stairs and swung open the door. Without a word to Shouichi, he threw his bag on his bed and made for the bathroom. The bespectacled teen was surprised at Yukio's behaviour as usually he'd come home fuming with a new complaint about Kise.

Across the hall, Kazunari and Tetsuya heard the racket as well and opened their door. They then looked down the hall in hopes of seeing the cause of it. It was then that Shouichi came out of the room.

"What's happening Shouichi-kun?" Tetsuya asked.

"Yuki's home." He answered. He got raised eyebrows from the two boys. "I don't what happened so I'm going to find out right now." He said. He then walked down the hall to the bathroom with Kazunari and Tetsuya following. The younger boys knew that once Yukio was home, they'd be hearing all his complaints about Kise, but this was different. Tetsuya began to wonder if Kise was changing for the better and this got the captain in a good mood.

"Yuki." Shouichi called as he knocked on the door. They could hear the shower running. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" he responded. "It's just that Tanaka-san is cooking curry!"

There was a moment of silence.

"Why didn't you say something earlier?!" Shouichi shouted.

The three boys looked at each other and then without another word to Yukio, dashed past their rooms and headed downstairs. They then sat swiftly and peacefully. Tanaka chuckled at the sight, but he knew that the boys absolutely _loved_ his curry.

When he looked at Kazunari's face, he could see the drool escaping his mouth at the corner of his lips, Shouichi's eyes were hidden by the glare of his glasses. Tetsuya seemed to be drunk on the aroma that emitted out of the pot, and well, Yukio's reaction earlier said it all.

"Don't worry boys, I'll be done in no time." He smiled at them. When he turned around and tasted the curry that he poured onto a small saucer, he realized that it was ready. Tanaka then took plated their servings, but he realized that Yukio had just come home, he's probably still in the shower.

"Could one of you ―" he broke off as he saw Yukio, sitting at the table. He then turned back around and chuckled to himself. _That boy works fast._ Not wanting to keep the boys waiting, he quickly finished their servings and handed them out.

When the food was in front of them, Tanaka saw their eyes gleam. Kazunari looked like a starving beast, eager to chow down into his dinner. Tetsuya and Yukio couldn't stop the drooling; Shouichi had a grin that made him wonder about the boy's sanity.

"Well eat up boys." He smiled. "As basketball players you need your energy."

" _Itadakimasu!_ " they chorused. Without hitch, they attacked their food savagely, and even though it isn't the first Tanaka was cooking curry, but seeing how they ate with heightened hunger, it made him wonder.

 _Well, boys will be boys._ He sighed as he put a spoonful within his mouth.

xxxx

It was sometime after eight, the boys finishing their homework and deciding to head to a street court. It was just a two minute walk or less from their home, and along the way, they chatted about this evening basketball's practice. As usual, Yukio was complaining about Kise but this time, he had good things to highlight about the blond. But he emphasized that the blond has a thing against teamwork.

Kazunari talked more about Midorima's awkwardness, causing them to bust out with laughter. From his strange lucky items to his obsession with fate and horoscopes, to him being Midorima's personal 'chauffeur' Kazunari talked about it all. To add to that, Tetsuya added his bit from when they were in Teikou; Yukio and Shouichi cracking up the most at this.

Tetsuya also talked about his new team, Kagami in particular. This piqued their interest, especially Shouichi's, as his style of play reminded him of Aomine.

Shouichi on the other hand, he kept wishing that they could switch their aces or something, as Aomine has yet to show up to a practice session. He seemed a bit stressed about it, but he tried not to worry about it too much. Even though school hasn't been open for long, he was already at the point of not caring whether or not the tanned player shows up.

They finally reached the street court, and without a word, Kazunari took the basketball from Yukio and dashed towards the further net. When he reached the paint, he stopped and made a shot.

"First point goes to me!" He shouted. "I shall lay siege to this court ruled by Shou-chan and Yu-chan! Come, Tetsuya! Your power is essential to my conquest!"

"Yes my Liege." Tetsuya deadpanned as he made his way over to the raven. Yukio and Shouichi bust with laughter at this, as comparing Kazunari's enthusiasm to Tetsuya's blank face, it was hilarious. Kazunari then bounced the ball to Shouichi, who upon receiving it, smirked dangerously at them.

"Well, well," he started. "We have to defend our territory from these feisty little runts."

"Agreed. Now let's put them in their place."

Shouichi then passed the ball to Yukio before dashing off towards Kazunari and Tetsuya. This was a usual for them, once they had finished their homework, and anything that they had due for school, and once they had energy to move, they'd head to the street court to have a mini-match. The last match they had, Yukio and Shouichi had won by a basket and by sheer luck (Tetsuya had tripped on his shoelace and so he couldn't pass the ball in time to Kazunari). That is why Kazunari had referred to the court being ruled by the two seniors. He was determined to win this time, and being around Tetsuya for so long, he knew that beneath that stone mask, the light blue haired teen wanted to as well.

"Here they come! Tetsuya, I'll prepare the shield, get ready with your weapon!" Kazunari shouted.

Tetsuya raised an eyebrow at him. He was getting into this medieval theme far too much. But, he liked how it added some sort of fun to the game, and he couldn't help but to chuckle out loud. Seeing Yukio coming closer, Tetsuya then moved up to block him, halting him in his tracks.

"Let's go Yukio-kun." He said.

"I'm ready as always Tetsuya."

xxxx

The four boys sat on the court, panting heavily. By the time Yukio's phone had signalled that their time was up, the two teams were tied at twenty points. Kazunari kept hooting that he and Tetsuya had been successful in their conquest. The other three boys laughed at his antics, his facial expressions were priceless.

It was then that Yukio remembered that Kaijou was going to have a match with Seirin.

"Tetsuya, do you know about our match?" Yukio asked.

"Match? What match?"

"Kaijou and Seirin have a practice match in two days time."

"Eh?!" Kazunari and Shouichi screeched.

"I don't know about that. Maybe my coach is going to tell us tomorrow." Tetsuya replied, placing a hand on his chin.

"Well, Yu-chan versus Tetsu-chan, I _have_ to be there." Kazunari grinned. "Where is it?"

"At Kaijou." Yukio sighed. "And would you believe that Coach doesn't take them seriously? We'll be playing them on a half-court while the rest of our guys continue their practice. It pissed me off."

"Well, talk about disrespect." Shouichi said. He then smirked. "I'm pretty sure that our little Tetsuya is going to show your coach just how wrong he is."

"I can't wait." Yukio said. "I really want to see just how good this 'Kagami' is."

"I'm just eager to see the two of you face off." Kazunari said. "I know I won't miss it for the world!"

"Hmm," Shouichi hummed. "I wonder if I can make it. Since Aomine doesn't show up for practice, I wonder if they'd allow me to go."

"It's just this once, so I think they won't be so hard." Yukio said. "After all, they might see it as a means of scouting."

"Right about that."

"So Tetsuya, how ―" Yukio broke off as he felt the boy's cheek on his shoulder. He chuckled and quickly draped an arm around his back and up underneath his arm.

"I can't believe he fell asleep like that." Kazunari snickered. "But that's the cue. It's bedtime."

Kazunari and Shouichi helped to place Tetsuya on Yukio's back, trying their best not to disturb the sleeping boy. After they had been successful, Kazunari whipped out his phone and took too many pictures of the two like that.

"Your brothers are going to be _so_ envious Yu-chan." Kazunari teased. "Be careful."

"Be quiet Kazunari!"

"But look at that. Big brother Yukio carrying little brother Tetsuya! It's too cute! Especially Tetsuya's face!" Shouichi joined in the fun.

"Not you too Shou!"

xxxx

"A practice game against Kaijou?!" Hyuuga asked in shock. The boys were all assembled before their coach in the gym.

"That's right, they won't disappoint us." Riko said with a nod. We'll put plenty of first years on the court."

"Disappoint us? They're way better than us." Koganei said.

"Are they really that good?" Furihata asked.

"They're strong at the national level." Hyuuga answered. "They play in Inter-High every year."

"And this year, Kaijou got their hands on one of the Generation of Miracles, Kise Ryouta."

The three freshmen looked shocked out of their wits. Tetsuya on the other hand, looked indifferent. Since he knew about this match prior, and well, since Yukio complains about Kise every day. Kagami on the other hand had on a grin on his face, glad that he'll finally play against one of the rumoured 'strongest in basketball'.

"Apparently, Kise works as a model." Hyuuga said, turning to his fellow second-years.

"Seriously?" Izuki said. "Amazing."

"Good looking and good at basketball? That's brutal." Koganei said with a sigh.

"Idiot." Riko said, sighing at the boy's comment. Just then, they heard loud chattering and squeals coming from the direction of the stage. All their eyes then focused at the horde of girls that lined the entrance and further up in the stands. Seeing this, Tetsuya remembered Yukio calling Kise's fangirls wildcats and couldn't help but to chuckle. He used a hand to cover his mouth, to prevent himself from laughing out loud.

"What are all these people doing here?" Riko said, she hadn't taken notice of Kise as yet.

"Uh, I didn't mean for this to happen." A voice then said from the stage. "Umm, do you think you could wait five minutes?"

Tetsuya twitched at this. Now he knew why Yukio comes home fuming every day. _He_ interrupted _their_ practice. And now he's asking them to _wait_? Unbelievable. But luckily for him, Seirin felt kind-hearted that day. They did wait the five minutes, well, more than five minutes for the blond to get rid of his legion of fangirls.

As soon as the gym cleared out, Kise hopped down off the stage and placed his hands in his pockets.

"What are you doing here?" Hyuuga asked.

"When I heard our next opponent was Seirin," he began as he made his way towards them, "I remembered that Kurokocchi comes here, so I thought I come say hi. We were the best of friends in middle school." He stopped right in front of the blue-haired teen.

Tetsuya snorted at that. _Kazunari-kun and Kotarou-kun are starting to rub off on me._ He quickly collected himself and replied, "Not more than anyone else."

"You're so mean!" Kise pretended to cry. Just then, he sensed something coming in his direction. Quickly stretching forth his hand to stop it, he realized that it was a basketball. "Ow! What was that for?!" he asked.

"Sorry for interrupting your little reunion." Kagami said. "Don't tell me you came all the way here just to greet us? Why don't you play with me a little pretty boy?" he beckoned.

"What? I don't know if I'm ready." Kise said playfully. He then placed a finger on his chin, seeming to be thinking about what to choose. "Fine, let's do it. I have to thank you for that display."

Hearing this, Tetsuya made yet another snort. _You're far more than ready._ He thought.

The two boys then settled at the top of the circle, Kise had the ball and went into a slightly hunched position. He bounced the ball as he looked straight at Kagami, there seemed to be a smirk that wanted to escape his lips.

Kise then faked by looking to his right and then dashing off left, Kagami in hot pursuit. When Kise had reached into the paint area and Kagami had come up to block him, the blond quickly dashed around him, jumped up at the net. Kagami jumped to block him, but the amount of strength that Kise put into that dunk, Kagami couldn't do a thing.

 _He's quicker than me and stronger too._ Kagami thought as he fell on his butt. Kise looked at Kagami before he sighed.

"I don't know about this." He started. "After something so disappointing, I can't leave now." He said as he made his way back to Tetsuya. "Give us Kurokocchi."

Tetsuya drew back in surprise and raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"Come join us. Let's play basketball together again. I seriously respect you, Kurokocchi. It's a waste of your talent to stay here. What do you say?" Kise said.

"I am honoured to hear you say that. I would, go to Kaijou." Tetsuya started, making Seirin gasp in shock. "But I wouldn't go to play basketball _with_ you." There was only reason why Tetsuya would ever think about going to Kaijou…and that's to play with _Yukio._ "Therefore, I must humbly decline your offer."

"But, you said that you would have come to Kaijou." Kise seemed as though he was going to cry again. "So ―"

"There's someone else there that I prefer to play basketball with.

"That doesn't make any sense." The blond seemed to be getting frantic. "Who is it?!"

"Plus, I made a promise with Kagami-kun." He continued. "I told him we'd beat you, the Generation of Miracles."

"It isn't like you to joke around."

The two then heard a laugh. It was Kagami, standing behind the blond. "I was going to say that Kuroko."

"Be prepared for our practice match." Tetsuya then said to the blond. He was upset from what Yukio told him about them playing on a half-court. The Seirin could only look on his shock; no one knew what to say. It was then that a ring sounded, Tetsuya quickly making his way to his phone that was beside his water bottle.

Flipping it open, he saw that it was a message from Kazunari.

_Subject: Your match._

_I'm coming! Coach said that I could come! But the sad thing is that Shin-chan wants to see your match as well so more than likely I'd be driving._

_I told Ko-chan about it but he said that he's not sure if he'd be able to come. The tyrant has them under a tight leash!_

_See you at home!_

Tetsuya smiled as he read the message, and flipped the phone closed. He was fine with just Kazunari coming, as he knew that the others (minus Yukio) would have had a difficult time. After all, many coaches would refer to this as _just_ a practice match. But, he was fired up for tomorrow. He'll show Kaijou's coach never to judge a book by its cover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

 

Seirin made their way through Kaijou's gates, and as they did so, they were awed by the buildings' infrastructure. In comparison to their school, Kaijou was by far bigger and better, and they were starting to wonder just what did they get themselves into. But Riko was all smiles. Since they had wanted to become number one and defeating the Generation of Miracles (Kagami), she decided why not start from now?

But for Kagami, he was far too excited. His eyes were red with sleep, making the boy look terrifying.

"Kagami-kun, the look in your eyes is worse than usual." Tetsuya had said to the boy.

"Shut up." He replied, turning his face away. "I was a little too excited that's all."

"What are you, a child going on a field trip?"

"What'd you say?!" he seemed as though he would have grabbed the smaller teen when they heard a voice call out.

"Hey guys!"

When they looked in the direction, they saw the tall blond running towards them. Tetsuya groaned aloud and Kagami had to stifle down a laugh. Ever since Kise came at Seirin, he took notice of Tetsuya's reaction to the blond, and honestly, he found it extremely funny.

"This place is big so I thought I'd come get you." Kise said to Riko.

"Hello." She greeted. Kagami then walked up to the blond in an attempt to say something but he was brutally ignored. Kise just walked by him, heading straight to Tetsuya who really wished he hadn't noticed him. It wasn't that he hated the blond, at this moment; Tetsuya was more upset with their coach than anything.

"Kurokocchi, ever since you turned me down my invitation to join us, I've been crying into my pillow every night." He even wiped his imaginary tears.

"What's wrong with him?" Hyuuga asked upon seeing Kise's behavior.

"Just show us the way!" Kagami said. But Kise didn't turn to look at him. He continued to bother Tetsuya with his fake tears. "Are you ignoring me!?" Kagami then shouted. Once more, nothing from the blond.

But today was not the day that Tetsuya wanted to put up with his foolishness. "Could you stop being so sarcastic?" he said.

Kise eyes intensified. "I'm interested to know more about the guy who's making Kurokocchi say those things." He said as he turned in Kagami's direction. He then walked towards the redhead, "I don't care much about being called Generation of Miracles, but I can't ignore such an obvious challenge. I'm not mature enough to let it slide. Sorry, but I'm going to crush you with everything I have."

"Sounds good." Kagami grinned. But then that entire mood was broken when they saw someone dashed up to Kise and kicked him to the ground.

"What's taking you so long, you fool?!" he roared. Tetsuya chuckled at this. This was the first time that he's seeing Yukio interact with Kise. "We simply told you to go get them! Don't you know that having your guests wait is bad manners!?"

"Senpai!" Kise wailed. "I'm sorry!"

Yukio calmed down and collected himself. He then greeted Riko and the rest of the team after. Tetsuya had to turn his face away to hide his grin; he wished that he taken out his phone to video this for Shouichi and the others to see later.

Yukio then led them to the gym, Kise sticking onto Tetsuya right throughout. Yukio didn't do anything, as he knew that Tetsuya was capable of putting Kise in his place should the need arrive. But what he was most worried about was the match. He knows that Tetsuya is currently upset with his coach and that's the _problem_. In their time of playing streetball together, there were teams who looked down on them because they were shorter. This _always_ enraged the blue-haired teen and well, there were many matches where the opposing hardly ever touched the ball.

Playing against _that_ was not on Yukio's list. Ever.

Soon, they reached the gym and when Seirin had entered, they halted in shock. Tetsuya was boiling with rage. Well, that can be said for the entire Seirin team. What they saw would've pissed off anyone. In the middle of the court, there was a meshed partition, which separated the half courts. On one side of the court, there were two benches present, one of which had the Kaijou guys who were already changed into their jersey sitting. The other side had the remainder of the club practicing as though was nothing was going to happen.

"We're playing on a half court?" Riko said. "The other is being used for practice. Why?"

"I'm sorry about this." Yukio said. Kise had already gone off by now. "Our coach is just being stupid."

"I don't get that." Koganei said.

"I really don't want to elaborate, because that will just make things worse." He sighed. It was true, Tetsuya had already known everything, and plus, he didn't know what the Seirin team was like. That Kagami guy seemed like the type to go berserk if pissed off and he really wanted to avoid as much stress as possible. Tetsuya was enough.

He then went over to the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Good luck Tetsuya."

Tetsuya smirked. "I should be the one telling you that Yukio-kun."

"Heh? We'll see about that."

Meanwhile, Riko was busy talking to Takeuchi with the rest of her boys behind. She inquired about their set-up and he answered that they've only made _simple_ arrangements for their game. And what is more, the coach had made another comment that left Seirin flipping. But they managed to hide their rage somehow.

Since Yukio was beside Tetsuya, when the boy had heard all that, Yukio knew, he just knew that Tetsuya was going to be vicious. He decided that he'll do everything he can to help Kaijou win, but Tetsuya…

"Yukio-kun, please bear this in mind." Tetsuya started.

"Huh? What is it?"

"I'm angry."

Yukio flinched and started sweating bullets. The look on the younger boy's face could make anyone run in fear, and Yukio started to countdown the time until Kaijou's demise. But then, he let out a small chuckle, this would be the coach's fault anyway.

"I understand." He smiled. He then walked over to his bench while Tetsuya walked up to the group.

"They think we suck." Kagami seethed. "They're treating this like a sideshow to their practice."

Izuki said. "I've never been more pissed off in my life before." Indeed, the aura around Seirin was not a good one. Kise was by this time putting on his jersey, but Takeuchi stopped him.

"You're not playing." The man said. "You're on a different level. It wouldn't be match if you did."

Kise was shocked. "Don't do that, coach." The blond then looked at the Seirin team, before making his way towards the group. "I'm really sorry! I'll be on the bench." He then pointed in the other's direction, "If you give his guys a beating, I'm sure he'll put me in."

Seirin said nothing.

"Besides," he continued, "If you can't force him to put me in, you shouldn't go around saying you'll beat the Generation of Miracles."

Yukio could only shake his head at what was going on. Judging by everyone's attitude towards Seirin, he could taste Kaijou's defeat and the match hasn't even started. _Tetsuya is going to murder us._ He sighed. Before Seirin could move off, he got up and took a step in their direction.

"Kasamatsu?" Takeuchi called.

"I'll show them the locker room." He said flatly. When he reached the group, he indicated that they should follow him. Without even a word to Kise, they moved off behind the captain. And honestly, Yukio felt stifled. Their aura was so bloodthirsty and murderous that he sincerely wished that he could have feigned an illness.

They finally reached the rooms, and while everyone else went in, Yukio held Tetsuya back. "I'm really sorry for what's going on." He said.

"I know it's not your fault Yukio-kun." Tetsuya replied with a smile. "But, we'll show Kaijou just what we can do."

"Hmm," he hummed. "But please be careful. One of the nets are rusted, so if Kagami is dunking, stand clear of it. It may fall and I really wouldn't want to see so much as a scratch on you."

Tetsuya chuckled. "I will. Thank you, Yukio-nii." He joked. He then entered the room, leaving Yukio with a small smile on his face. Yukio then left and headed back to the court.

As soon as Tetsuya had entered the room, everyone attacked him.

"Yukio-nii?!" Izuki asked. "He's your brother?"

"No, he's _like_ a big brother to me."

"How'd you even meet him?" Tsuchida asked.

"We live together."

"Ehh?!" came the unison screech.

"You _live_ with Kaijou's _captain_?" Hyuuga shouted, his eyes bulged from the revelation.

Tetsuya nodded. He wanted to laugh at their facial expressions but he decided to restrain himself. These days, he's realizing that the others were rubbing off on him, especially Kazunari and Kotarou. Riko then walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Why didn't you tell us, Kuroko-kun?!"

"You never asked." Came his monotonous reply.

"It's because we thought you were a normal teenager who lives with his parents!" they chorused. Tetsuya turned his face away and chuckled. His team was being quite expressive. Afterwards, everyone began to change into their jersey, the mood from before settling in. When Tetsuya was done, he walked over to Kagami with a smirk on his face.

"Kagami-kun," he called.

"Hmm?"

"You want to play on a full court, don't you?"

"Well, of course! Everyone here does!" he said as he stood up. "Plus, I want to put that bastard Kise in his place!"

"Good. Here's what we'll do."

xxxx

The two teams were then assembled on the court, lining up before each other. But Yukio had gotten the shock of his life. It had taken him a while before he spotted Tetsuya, who was standing beside Kagami. _Oh dear,_ he sighed. The rest of his guys won't be able to pinpoint Tetsuya's whereabouts that easily, plus, he knew that his marker would be Seirin's point guard. Yukio rubbed his temple.

"Let the practice game between Seirin and Kaijou begin!"

However, the referee who had the ball halted before blowing his whistle. To him, it seemed that there were only four of Seirin's starters present on the court.

"Umm, Seirin, could you please have your five starters line up?" he asked.

"There are five of us." Tetsuya answered. That frightened everyone. The referee nearly jumped out of his skin, the boy was right beside him and he didn't even notice. The same for the Kaijou starters sans Yukio. The captain wanted to laugh at their reactions, but he managed not to. Of all their time as RimFire, the same thing always happened, and it was always funny.

"O-okay," then blew the whistle and the players got into position. Then standing between Kagami and Kobori, he threw the ball upwards for the tip-off.

Kagami and Kobori stretched for it, and sadly for Seirin, Kobori reached it first. He then passed it to Yukio, who bounced it cautiously as he walked. His eyes scanned the court for signs of Tetsuya but to no avail. _Shit, where is he?!_ He thought. He then felt the weight of the ball gone from his hands, and when he looked around, there was Tetsuya heading towards their net.

Quickly, Yukio and Hayakawa managed to get down there (well, Yukio knows just how fast Tetsuya is), but that didn't stop the blue-haired teen. He released the ball behind him the moment Kagami had run up and swiftly, the tall redhead made a dunk, ripping the net from the backboard.

"Yosha!" Kagami shouted, holding the net in his hands. Yukio used a hand to cover his mouth so that no one will realize that he's laughing. Tetsuya then walked over to him with sly smile that resembles Kazunari's.

"It seems that we'll be using the full court after all."

"You're awful." He chuckled.

"Me? You're the one who told me about it, Yukio-nii." Tetsuya then made his way to where Takeuchi was sitting. Riko was already there, sincerely apologizing for what they just did.

"I'm sorry we broke your hoop." Tetsuya started, a miniscule smile on his face. "Since we can't play like this, could we use the full court?" All this time, Kagami stood behind Tetsuya with a triumphant grin on his face, he still held the hoop.

Takeuchi was seething. On the other side of the court, Yukio was using every ounce of his strength so as to not bust out with laughter. He had turned his face away from everyone, facing the wall and covered his mouth with a hand. He then looked in the stands to see if Kazunari had come. He didn't see him, but then he figured that if the raven was here, he'd hear his boisterous laughter already.

The boys then swiftly began to clean up the court, wiping off the sweat and such. They had removed the partition and the other net was then lowered.

"That's what you call a beating." Kise chuckled.

"Huh?" Kagami asked.

"I've never seen the coach like that before." He replied.

"You should tell him that's what he gets for underestimating us!"

"How much do you think a replacement hoop costs?" Tetsuya then asked. "I hope it isn't too expensive. I'm broke."

"Huh? _We_ have to pay for it?!"

"I really hope not."

The game then resumed, Kise changed into his jersey and stepping out onto the court. He then looked directly at Kagami and Kuroko with a smirk on his face. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"You're finally in."

"You're way too intense for a model when you're on." Hyuuga joined in.

"He's not just putting on a show." Tetsuya answered. "He _is_ intense."

However, on Seirin's bench, Riko was looking at the stats of the Kaijou players. She noticed that they were far above her boys, but when her eyes landed on Kise, she realized the boy really is a monster. She started to worry for her boys. But then she was taken out of her thoughts when she heard screaming. She then looked in the direction and saw girls, fawning over the blond player.

"Huh? What's all that?" Hyuuga asked upon seeing the commotion. Kise then waved to the girls.

"Oh, that?" Yukio answered. "This happens every time he plays. And…" he trailed off as he ran to the boy, giving him a kick to the ground. "Quit waving, I'll hit you!"

"But you already did so, Yukio-kun." Tetsuya couldn't help it this time. He bust out in full blown laughter on the court.

"I kicked him, Tetsuya." Yukio shrugged. "There's a difference."

"Kurokocchi?" Kise said, but then he looked at Yukio. "Kasamatsu-senpai? You know each other?"

"We live together." Yukio answered in-a-matter-of-factly.

"He's my big brother," Tetsuya answered, being a bit playful.

"Wha-what?" But that would have to be left for later. The referee blew his whistle, indicating that the match will be restarting.

It was Kaijou's ball, Yukio dribbled towards the centre while Kise had run on ahead, swiftly evading Seirin's defenders. When he came up to Hyuuga, he bounced the ball through his legs and Kise caught it. With a shout, the blond slammed the ball through the hoop, seeming as though he wanted to break it.

The match thus resumed, Seirin's ball. Mitobe had retrieved it from under the net, and then passed it to Izuki. The eagle eyed boy then passed it to Hyuuga who, after a couple of dribbles, then passed it to Tetsuya. The blue-haired teen then redirected it to Kagami, who dunked it hard through the net.

"Let's go all out on these bastards!" he shouted.

"Yeah!"

That said, the match became high-paced. Back and forth the two teams went; it seems as though neither of the teams remembered what defending was. As soon as Kaijou scored, Seirin did the next time it was their possession. On the bench, Riko and everyone else was appalled by the game's pace. Since the two teams' offenses were so strong, defending would be just a waste of time.

But the focal point was Kise and Kagami.

The two aces sped across the court, trying to block one another and so on. It had turned into a dunk fest because of them, Kagami dunked this time, Kise dunked the next time. Seeing this, Yukio was starting to wonder if either of the nets will be able to hold out for the rest of the game. They already lost one, and at the rate at which the boys are going, he won't be surprised if they lost the others.

At one point in the game, Kagami had made a fadeaway shot, but Kise had jumped to block him. The blond then dashed down the court with Kagami following but as soon as he had reached the paint, he jumped into a fadeaway. The shot went in flawlessly.

It was only five minutes into the game, but due to Kagami playing as vicious as that, Kise was also doing the same. Knowing that things will only get worse, Tetsuya then jogged behind his captain and requested a time-out. Hyuuga was a bit hesitant at first, but when he glanced over at the where the officials were sitting, he saw that Riko was there too.

_She's probably thinking the same thing._ He thought. He then threw the ball outside the court, and same time, the time-out was announced.

xxxx

Kazunari huffed as he peddled the ricksaw. Midorima was sitting leisurely in the back, sipping on a can of red bean soup. The raven-haired had wondered how it came to this, becoming Midorima's chauffeur. He peddled as hard as his legs could take him, hoping to reach the match in time. After all, this was Tetsu-chan versus Yu-chan, even if the world was ending, he wouldn't ― _couldn't_ ― miss it.

"Shin-chan," he huffed. "Can't we switch right now? My legs are aching." He panted. "You haven't pedaled once!"

"What are you talking about?" Midorima chuckled, taking a sip of his beverage. "Today's Oha-Asa predicted that it is the greatest of days for Cancers like me."

"What does that have to do with this?!" Kazunari shouted. "I wanted to see the match from the beginning, you know!"

"Then hurry up or it will be over."

"It's your fault!"

xxxx

Back on the court, Kaijou was leading, but it was an eight point gap. The boys were drenched in sweat; running up and down the court was proving to take a toll on both teams, Seirin mostly. Without realizing, they had been matching Kaijou's pace, and it was now that Tetsuya had noticed how good it is that he's a part of RimFire. Playing all those street ball matches during the summer and last week, really helped to improve his stamina, he knows that if he hadn't been doing that, he would have already been exhausted.

Yukio, on the other hand, even though he couldn't really see where Tetsuya was, Kaijou was still winning. He then wondered if he was saving the worst for the last quarter. He knows that the boy would do it.

But then he was taken out his thoughts when he heard Kagami laugh out loud. He then looked in his direction and saw him talking to Kise.

"We're just getting started." The redhead said as he walked past Kise. "Besides, thanks to you, I know your weakness."

"What weakness?" Kise asked, surprised.

"With one look? What if you don't see it?" Kagami smirked. "Against a guy that's already invisible, it's impossible. No matter how athletic you are, you'll never achieve an invisible basketball style. In other words," he continued, grabbing Tetsuya's hair. "This guy is your weakness."

Hearing this left everyone stunned. Riko's eyes opened wide when she heard Kagami reveal it, she still found it hard to believe. _The weakest guy on the court is his weakness?_ She was at a loss. Even Yukio, wondered how could that be possible. He knows that Tetsuya specializes in passing, but how can he be Kise's weakness?

"End of the first quarter!"

They returned to their benches, rehydrating themselves. On the Kaijou bench, the boys were listening to their coach chew of their heads. He complained about their fundamentals; they're defense being asleep and so on. Yukio sighed at this; they wouldn't have been in this mess _if_ he hadn't underestimated them.

Subconsciously, he found himself looking across to Seirin's bench, hoping to catch a glimpse of the blue-haired teen. He did, but he was standing beside Kagami and was talking to his coach. _I know what that means_. A smile graced Yukio's face, knowing Tetsuya always comes up with some strange tactic to win against his opponents.

_I'm no exception, huh._

"Let the second quarter begin!"

When the game started, the pace had dropped significantly in comparison to the first quarter. Kaijou had possession, Kise dribbling until he reached Seirin's net where he made a simple dunk. Another time, once more, it was Kise with the ball, weaving through Seirin's defense as he headed towards the net. He then made a shot, bringing up their score to thirty nine.

When it was Seirin's possession, at the three point line, Hyuuga had Moriyama blocking him. However, stepping back a little, the shooter managed to get a three in. Another time, when Hyuuga got the ball, he swiftly passed it to Izuki who had Yukio behind him. Without hitch, he then passed the ball to Kagami who marked Kise.

"Something's changed, right?" the blond had asked him. Without a word to him, Kagami then stormed towards their net, but Kise was next to him. However, reaching the top of the circle, Kagami released the ball behind him to Tetsuya who swiftly redirected it back to him. Kagami then went and made a shot, Kise stood there frozen.

Another time, Kagami had once more passed the ball to Tetsuya but instead of passing it back to Kagami, he sent it to Hyuuga. The captain once more made a flawless three. Yukio saw what was happening and knew that this was just the beginning. Once Seirin got into the groove of things, and once Tetsuya decides that he wants them to suffer, it will only get worse.

But, he trusts his teammates and knows that they'll put up a fight. After all, they are the Blue Elites.

"Now that they're coordinating, this will be a pain in the ass." Yukio said to Kobori. Being a part of RimFire, he knows that Tetsuya's coordination with anyone is always lethal.

"I realized."

The game resumed, this time, as Kise was passed the ball, Tetsuya went up to block the blond. Kise and everyone else were shocked. Yukio's eyes bulged out his sockets, as this was something that not even they did as RimFire.

"Tetsuya's on Kise? How will that work?" he said to himself.

But then he saw Kise dashed pass the boy, but the moment he'd done so, Kagami came up to block him. And in that moment which Kise hesitated, Tetsuya knocked the ball out of his hands from behind, sending it bouncing in Izuki's direction. Swiftly, the boy headed towards the net where he made a shot.

"Damn it Tetsuya, a simple double team would have been better." Yukio said.

"You should know that I don't do anything simple." Tetsuya smirked.

Annoyed by what just happened, Kise dribbled the ball until he made it to the top of the circle where Tetsuya was. He bounced the ball three times before bending his knees. When he straightened, Tetsuya realized that the blond was about to make a three. But, using his head leverage, Kagami knocked the ball out of his hands.

_Oh shit, playing against Tetsuya is really a pain._ Yukio groaned aloud.

"Fast break!" he was taken out of his thoughts when he had heard Kagami shout. The redhead dashed off, Kise following behind. But the instant he turned, his hand knocked Tetsuya to the ground.

"Kuroko-kun!" Riko had shouted out in worry.

The boy looked upwards and everyone saw the blood running down his face. Without hitch, Yukio dashed to the boy and held his shoulders.

"Tetsuya, how are you feeling?" he asked. He then held his cheeks and turned the injury towards him.

"I feel lightheaded." He answered. He then got up and stood, Hyuuga and Kagami coming over to assist.

"Are you okay?" Kagami asked.

Yukio nearly snapped. "What kind of question is that?!" he asked. "Of course he's _not_ okay!"

"I'm fine, Yukio-kun, Captain, Kagami-kun." Tetsuya started. "The game is just getting started."

"Shit! Now he's delusional." Yukio fretted. After all, it was a head injury. Then, as Tetsuya made a step off, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Yukio was almost engulfed in worry.

"Kuroko!" Hyuuga shouted.

"Kagami, quick, help me carry him!" Yukio barked at the redhead. With a nod, they took up the boy and walked over to Seirin's bench. While Riko tended to him, Yukio didn't leave; instead he knelt firmly beside the boy.

Kise looked destroyed. Seeing Tetsuya like that was really heartbreaking, but he just couldn't find it in him to move. He wanted to go over there and help do something or just be by the blue-haired teen's side like Yukio was. But he couldn't move.

"And here I said that I didn't even want to see a scratch on him." Yukio said, "This is the worst."

"We'll take care of him Kasamatsu-san." Riko reassured him. Reluctantly, Yukio left the bench and headed back onto the court, but his eyes were still focused on Tetsuya. The boy was lying still, only the rising and falling of chest indicated that he was alive. He then looked to Kise, and saw that the blond looked absolutely mortified at what happened.

After all was done, the game resumed, Koganei being subbed in for Tetsuya. Hyuuga had entered into clutch mode, sinking as much as threes as often as he got the ball. Kagami had switched to defense mostly, since Kise is only going to copy him.

It was Seirin's possession, Hyuuga faced off with Moriyama while Izuki had Yukio. Hyuuga then dashed off from Moriyama, while Koganei had set up a screen. Izuki then passed the ball to him while Mitobe kept Kobori out of a good position. Hyuuga made his three, with a smug look on his face. Without Tetsuya to get the ball around swiftly, Seirin relied on Hyuuga to make up the points. And he was doing a damn good job as well.

But Kaijou was fierce. Yukio got the ball around to his teammates and gave out instructions pretty well; Kise often times stormed in and made his dunks. Kobori's defense was extremely good, Moriyama made his threes whenever he got the ball. Hayakawa got some shots in as well since none of the shooters' ball rebounded.

And so the game continued like that until they reached the fourth quarter. Making what seemed to be endless threes while trying to fend off Moriyama wasn't easy and Hyuuga was starting to lose focus. Since he was the core of the offense now, he knew that one mistake would be detrimental. Add to that, from the high paced play earlier, _every one_ of them was tired.

Riko glanced at the clock and saw that it was just two minutes into the fourth quarter, and they still haven't caught up as yet.

"If only we had Kuroko-kun." She said out loud.

"Very well." She heard a voice say from behind her. She turned around to see the boy getting up. He still looked a bit droopy, with one eye shut down.

"Good morning." He greeted her. "I'll be going then." He then stepped off, heading onto the court.

"Hey, wait!" she stopped him in his tracks before he could go on further. "What are you talking about?"

"But you just told me to go."

"I didn't tell you that. It just slipped out."

"Then I'm going. If I can change anything by going out there, then please. Besides, I promised Kagami-kun that I'll be his shadow."

Riko sighed. "Fine." She succumbed. "But if I think you're in trouble, I'm switching you out immediately."

And so, Tetsuya was subbed on, much to Yukio's displeasure. It wasn't because the boy was dangerous when it comes onto passing; it was because he was _injured_. Yukio values him and the others as though they were his brothers. And with Tetsuya being the youngest of them, the worry for him seems to skyrocket.

But, knowing that Riko wouldn't do anything that would endanger Tetsuya, Yukio decided to let it slip. But, should something happen again, he knows that he'll be banning the boy from basketball until he got better.

The match continued, both teams going back and forth, attacking each other. For Seirin, Izuki used his eagle eyes to the max, getting the ball around, getting them in place and avoiding mistakes. Hyuuga made threes until all that he could think about was making threes and nothing else, Kagami defended well with Mitobe. Tetsuya…he was back to being vicious. There were times when he passed to Kagami and the redhead would do a simple dunk. Other times he would pass to Hyuuga to help raise their score faster.

By the time it reached five minutes in, Seirin was at eighty while Kaijou was at eighty-two. This shocked everyone, but by the time they registered that, Hyuuga had made a shot, tying the two teams.

Kise stood there unable to believe what was happening. _We're tied?_

It was at that moment, Yukio passed the ball to the blond and he dashed past Tetsuya with unbelievable speed. Tetsuya had tried to do his back-tip yet again, but Kise quickly switched the hand that the ball was in. He then headed towards their net where he made a dunk.

When he got up, he looked at Tetsuya as though in a trance. "I won't lose. Not to anyone. Not even Kurokocchi."

"This isn't good." Hyuuga said, wiping a sweat. "Give it your all everyone! It'll be just like the first quarter from here on out! A back and forth run gun game!"

And so it was.

Both teams attacked each other with ruthless ferocity, the two aces going at it, dunking as though they wanted to rip the hoop off the backboard. The shooting guards made their shots as well, but Hyuuga made more than Moriyama since the ball was often time passed to Kise.

With twenty-two seconds left on the clock, both teams were tied at ninety-eight points. Seeing what was happening, Tetsuya came up with an idea. He called Kagami back and informed him of what he thought would work, without Kise copying anyone.

"And what's that?" he asked.

"A buzzer beater." Tetsuya replied.

Yukio had made it into Seirin's court with the ball, Hyuuga was on him. But before he could do anything, Yukio had jumped, making a three. However, the moment the ball left his hand; Kagami knocked it down, Hyuuga catching it. He then flung it back to Kagami who was already making his way down court with Tetsuya nearby.

Kise had blocked their path however, but swiftly, Kagami passed the ball to Tetsuya. Knowing that Tetsuya can't shoot, he deduced that he'll pass the ball back to Kagami. But that was not the case. Tetsuya shot the ball upwards, leaving Kise shocked.

"It's an alley-oop, Kise!" Yukio shouted. The blond then dashed towards the redhead, and jumped as well to stop the shot.

"I don't need you to return the favour!" Kagami said. "Because this ends now!" he slammed the ball through the net, shocking everyone present. The gym was in silence for a while, that is until Kagami shouted.

"Yosha!"

Riko gave her boys a thumbs up while the bench members ran out onto to the court to celebrate.

"I can't believe we won." Hyuuga said.

The Kaijou guys were silenced, but then Yukio sighed. This match had been rough, but even more so, looking at Kise's face he wondered what will happen to the blond now. Since he knew that from his Teikou days he's never lost a match, he silently prayed that this wouldn't cause him to shut down.

He looked at him again, and saw him crying. Yukio raised an eyebrow at this but somehow it irritated him. Walking over to him, the captain gave him a small kick that only pushed him a couple steps.

"Stop crying." He started. "And you've got some balls to say you've never lost before." His voice then got in his lecturing tone. "I'll hit you! You'd better add the word 'revenge' to that empty dictionary of yours!"

Kise nodded.

They then went to line up after which the referee made the announcement.

xxxx

"We're home!" Yukio shouted as they took off their shoes. Both he and Tetsuya were in the doorway, Yukio had both their bags. Without even being able to say anything more, the two were attacked by Shouichi and Kazunari.

"I didn't get to watch!" Kazunari said with crocodile tears streaming down his face. "Shin-chan left me in traffic with the ricksaw!"

"So how was it?" Shouichi asked. "I couldn't come because since Aomine didn't show up, coach doesn't want any of his regulars leaving practice."

However, there was a pause before a screech.

"What happened to Tetsuya?!"

"I was knocked over." He replied.

"Trust me; I nearly had a heart attack." Yukio said. "When I saw the blood running down his face…" he trailed off. "God…I'm glad that the doctor said that he's fine."

"Blood?!" Shouichi asked, ignoring the last sentence.

"What? Didn't you go to play basketball? What kind of monsters did you battle Tetsu-chan?" Kazunari said, turning his face left and right, seeming as though he was inspecting the boy.

"Kaijou. They were quite ferocious."

The four boys then howled with laughter, before moving up to their rooms. Yukio and Tetsuya had greeted Tanaka as well. When they were settled in Tetsuya and Kazunari's room, the two boys began talking about their match.

"Man, all I can say is that Seirin is full of resilient bastards." Yukio sighed. "They just won't give up!"

"Thanks for the compliment, Yukio-nii." Tetsuya said, his voice laced with sarcasm. Kazunari and Shouichi chuckled at this; the boys were just too funny.

"But, now I know how our opponents feel. It's hard to see Tetsuya on the court, _if_ you manage to see him any at all. Honestly, at one point, I had to play thinking that Seirin only had four players."

"Damn." Shouichi said.

"It makes no sense you try to find someone who doesn't want to be seen."

"That's right." Tetsuya smiled. He then yawned and stretched, after which he rubbed his eyes.

"It's bedtime." Kazunari said. "But it's still so early. And I wanted to call Ko-chan and Tatsu-chan to tell them of the outcome."

"That can be done tomorrow." Yukio said. "The match today was nothing like our street ball matches. The pace was extremely fast."

"Oh."

After that Yukio and Shouichi exited the room, Tetsuya drifting off into sleep before he even realized it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

 

 

At Kaijou, Takeuchi worked them to death. After that defeat by the hands of a no-name school per say, he was livid. Yukio, on the other hand, even though he too was upset that they had lost, felt that this was a good experience for them, to never underestimate anyone. There was also a change with Kise, as he showed up to practice these days and well, he practiced a lot harder than anyone else. Seeing this, many of the boys were strangely glad that they had gotten their asses kicked.

However, with Kise at practice every day, he would hound Yukio about Tetsuya. Since the blue-haired teen had told him that Yukio was his 'big brother', the blond had taken it literal. And what made it worse, Kise had called the very evening of the practice match, and Yukio had answered since the boy was busy. It annoyed Yukio to no end, and at one point Kise had asked Yukio to tell him all about Tetsuya, likes, dislikes, favourites, everything.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?!" Yukio had snapped at the boy. "You have his number don't you?!"

"Yes," he whined. "But if I call he'll just disconnect it!" the blond then perked. "Can I come over then?"

Yukio sighed. He really couldn't deal with this. He was tempted to agree just to get him out of his skin, but then he remembered that there's Kazunari and Kotarou. If Kise should come in contact with those two, all hell will break loose. The other regulars of Kaijou could only look on with humor, the way those two interacted was classic after all.

"Help me out, Senpai!" he then wailed. "Pwease?" he then pouted at the captain, batting his eyelashes as well.

"Die!" Yukio shouted at the blond, kicking him into a nearby wall. It was then that he heard his phone ringing; he immediately knew who it was. That ringtone was reserved for Kazunari and Yukio now wondered just could the boy possibly want at this moment. He _never_ messaged or called any of them during practice before, and he thought that maybe this was important.

Opening the message, a big grin appeared on his face.

_Subject: Street ball_

_We have another competition to take! When you get home I'll tell you more!_

_Plus, Ko-chan says he has something to ask us!_

"This will be fun." He smirked. He then replied and locked the screen.

_xxxx_

At Touou, practice was the usual, the boys having to do sprints, sit-ups and other horrifying exercises. But as per usual, Aomine was a no-show. Shouichi sighed, there were times when he felt that if he had known that in his third year he'd be captain to an ace that doesn't show, honestly, he would have transferred to Kaijou already. Aomine was a hard nut to crack, _if_ he could crack. There was only one thing about the boy that he greatly admired, and that was his unfair skills in basketball.

Shouichi panted as they were allowed a break, taking a seat on the stage. He then dug in his bag for his phone to check if there were any messages or missed calls. Seeing one from Kazunari, he couldn't help but smile. When he had opened the message, a sadistic grin appeared on his face.

"Hmm, yet another competition to conquer." He chuckled. "This ought to be fun." But then he saw the last part of the message. He raised an eyebrow, wondering what the dribbler could want to ask them about. With a shrug of his shoulders, he then locked the screen and placed it back into his bag.

_xxxx_

Practice at Seirin was the usual, minus the fact that the moment Tetsuya had entered the locker room to change; he was attacked with questions about his relations to Kaijou's captain. With a sigh, he had simply answered in his usual deadpan manner:

"We live in a dormitory."

That seemed to have calmed them down a bit, but it had started up again in the middle of practice when they had been given a break. It was actually Kagami who brought it up and thus, it intrigued everyone else. He had asked what was it like living with the captain of an opposing team, and Tetsuya simply answered with a bit of playfulness underlining his tone:

"Fun."

Tetsuya had made no mention of the other guys, simply because ' _they didn't ask'._ So, after couple more questions, they resumed practice once more, Riko's training regimen killing them off. She kept shouting that they had beaten Kaijou with luck and by the skin of their teeth, so next time when they face them, they'd be able to win with a decent enough lead.

By the time practice was over, Tetsuya was dying and panting for air. With wobbling legs, he had ambled over to where his water bottle was and chugged down the clear liquid. When he was done, he felt rejuvenated and thus, he took out his phone to check if there were any missed calls. Practice this time had ended later than usual, and he knew just how worrisome Yukio could be.

But to his surprise, he hadn't gotten a message from Yukio, but from Kazunari. And looking at the time it was sent, it was during practice hours. Quickly opening the message he deemed to be important, a smile appeared on his usual blank face. Kazunari has discovered yet another street ball competition. Tetsuya chuckled at this, it seemed as though Kazunari has become the one who seeks out these competitions for them. He then replied to the message (even though it's a bit late) and then closed down the phone.

"Oi, Kuroko!" Kagami then called him. "Hurry it up!"

Tetsuya snapped up and saw the entire team standing at the gym doors looking at him. He smiled, Seirin reminded him too much of Yukio. Being the youngest, Yukio seems to have an eye out for him anywhere they went.

 _Except on the court…_ Tetsuya thought. "Sorry, I'm coming." He then answered as he swiftly made his way to them.

_xxxx_

"Damn, I don't know how you do this every day, Kazu." Kotarou huffed. "My legs are starting to ache and I haven't reached halfway yet."

"Well, in a match, you know whose legs will last the entire forty-minutes." Kazunari snickered. He was seated comfortably in the ricksaw, drinking water while Kotarou pedaled away. The two had met up at the station where Kotarou had come off a train from Kyoto. By that time, he had already dropped off Midorima home and decided to meet his best friend.

And Kotarou, being the loving brother that he is to Kazunari, decided to let the boy rest his legs. After all, he had heard all about his and Midorima's journeys with that ricksaw. But now, he's beginning wonder about Kazunari's legs. Were they made out iron? It seems that way. For him to do this every day, morning _and_ evening is astonishing.

Kazunari then took out his phone and tried to check the time, but then he realized that his battery's dead. He sighed. He could tell that the time was already late judging by the darkness, and he knew, he just knew that Yukio was going to give them an earful. He then asked Kotarou if he could check the time and the blond haired boy only replied that his battery died earlier today.

"Yu-chan is going to kill us." Kazunari groaned out.

"Maa, as long as we reach home in time for dinner, it should be alright, right?" Kotarou said with a sheepish smile.

"Hopefully."

After that, the two started up a different conversation that didn't include Yukio worrying about them. They talked mostly about their teams; the highlight of Kotarou's was Akashi's absolute behavior, Nebuya disgusting belches and inhuman eating volumes, and Mibuchi's scorn of the centre. Kazunari had howled with laughter, but then he went on to talk about his team. Miyaji and Kimura always threatening to hit Midorima with a pineapple was classic, to the green haired shooter's ' _tsundereness',_ and Otsubo's constant barking at them. This time, it was the blond's turn to die of laughter; he had to stop pedaling a while.

"Shutoku is crazy!" he guffawed. "Damn, I can't wait to hear what new puns Izuki came up with this week from Tetsuya!"

"I know right!" Kazunari chuckled. "Or what new ways Kise managed to raise Yu-chan's blood pressure!"

"That too!"

Being so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn't realized that they were almost home until they heard a familiar voice shout:

"Kotarou-kun!" Tetsuya along with Shouichi and Yukio were heading in their direction.

"Hey guys!" the two boys greeted back.

_xxxx_

Yukio and Shouichi were by the stove, one prepared the meat while the other put the seasonings together, also chopping the vegetables. Tetsuya was the usual, setting the table, and getting the ingredients for the juice. Tanaka had gone out on some errands but neither of the boys minded. Their only concern was that Kazunari has yet to come home. They all tried to call his phone, but it went directly to voicemail.

After Tetsuya had finished with the table, he went outside to see if the boy was coming, Yukio and Shouichi followed suit after they had put the seasoned chicken in the oven.

"He's never been out this late before." Yukio started. "I hope he's alright."

Shouichi snickered. "You're such a mother-hen Yuki."

"I'm not!"

"But I'm pretty sure that Kazunari is fine."

But then, they heard Tetsuya let out a startled gasp. "Kotarou-kun!" he then shouted and dashed out the gate. Yukio and Shouichi followed, forgetting that they were cooking. When they had all registered what was going on, they sighed a relief. Kotarou was pedaling the ricksaw, Kazunari sat comfortably in the back, the two were engaged in a conversation.

"Hey guys!" they shouted once they saw the three rushing towards them. Kotarou had then stopped pedaling, Kazunari hopped out of the rear.

"Kazunari!" Yukio shouted. "You have me worried sick! Next time, you call!"

"But my phone ―"

"Then don't let your battery die!" he added, cutting the younger boy off. It seemed that he knew what Kazunari would have said. He then turned to Kotarou. "And you! Couldn't you have said something!?" Kotarou then fished into his pocket and when Yukio saw that he was pulling out his phone, he stopped him. "Next time, just like Kazunari, don't let your battery go dead!"

"Yes, Mom." Both boys chorused. Yukio drew back. Shouichi grabbed onto his shoulders while the two dashed off towards the house. There was a visible vein on Yukio's forehead, but he should get used to this by now. Kazunari, Kotarou and even Tetsuya have a tendency to call him 'Mom' sometimes.

"Yukio-kun, Shouichi-kun," Tetsuya started. "Remember the chicken in the oven. I don't want to starve today."

Looking at each other, they then dashed towards the house. Tetsuya then sighed, seeing that everyone left and the ricksaw was still there. He then climbed onto it and pedaled it into the yard where they kept it.

_xxxx_

"So how was school?" Tanaka asked as he took a seat beside Shouichi at the dinner table.

"It was alright." Tetsuya answered. "Minus the hounding of my team."

"You too?!" Yukio asked. "Kise almost drove me insane!"

"How so, Yukio-kun?"

"He wants to know more about Tetsuya so when he asks him out; he'll know exactly how to make him happy. In addition, he wants to come over here. Honestly, I don't think I can manage Kise along with these two here." He said as he looked in Kazunari and Kotarou's direction. "Two energetic children is more than enough, I can't a handle a third."

Everyone laughed at this.

"Oohh," Shouichi started, "Whoever wants to date you has to be given clearance by me and Yuki." He said looking in Tetsuya's direction. Meanwhile, Yukio nodded in agreement.

Tanaka laughed at their antics. He then turned to Kazunari and asked, "What about you Kazunari-kun?"

"Practice was the usual. Nothing changed." He said with a shrug. "But what I can tell you is that the competition is being held at the park near Harajuku!"

"All right!" Kotarou chirped. "Oh yeah," he then said, tapping his chin. "I think we should get uniforms. We're pretty well known, yet still, all we wear is a white shirt and any pants that we wear. That's not very striking."

"It's not a bad idea to get uniforms, but what would it look like? And the design?" Tanaka asked.

"Fret not." Tetsuya said as he rose to his feet. He then headed up the stairs and straight into his room. He then opened his drawer around his desk, and pulled out an art book. Then swiftly, he returned downstairs and took his seat.

"Here." He said, pushing the book in the centre of the table, "I've made a couple of designs so we can choose which is best."

"That's great, but after we finish dinner." Tanaka said. The moment he said this, Kotarou and Kazunari chowed down into their food like starving beasts, frightening everyone there.

"Chew your food!" Yukio had reprimanded. "The designs aren't running away!"

Tanaka and Tetsuya only laughed at this, Shouichi sat there silently, eating his portion.

_xxxx_

"This one!" the three boys (minus Tetsuya) shouted, their indexes landing on a part of the page. They all looked at each other and grinned, before busting out in laughter.

"They say great minds think alike." Kotarou grinned. He stared at the design once more, pride and amazement lighting up his eyes. Neither of them knew that Tetsuya could design so well, simply because he's never done anything before for them to see. Even Kazunari was shocked and he was his roommate.

"I really like this one." He then said. "It's beautiful."

"Yeah," the others said. The design they were looking at had their name 'RimFire' atop what seemed to be a circle of flames. The flames began at the 'R' and continued on the circle right around where it stopped at the 'e'.

"The only problem I'm having is what colours to put it in." Tetsuya started.

"What do you mean? Any colour is fine." Shouichi said.

"I just wanted it have a piece of each of us. Since we all go to different schools, I was thinking that maybe I could use all our schools' colours but…" he trailed off.

"Right…My colour would be blue, Kazunari would be orange, Kotarou would be light blue, Tetsuya would be red, Shouichi would be…red as well?"

"Yeah." The glasses wearing teen answered. "And Tatsuya. Which school will he be going when he comes back?"

"He's not sure. Let's ask him." Kotarou perked. He then walked over to Kazunari's desk and opened up his laptop. A minute or two after the start-up, Tatsuya's face appeared on the screen.

" _You all just love to disturb me, don't you?"_ the boy yawned uncharacteristically.

"Well, good night to you too, Tatsu-chan!" Kazunari perked.

" _It's morning now, Kazunari._ "

"What do you think about this?" Yukio then asked the boy, holding up the sketch book at the screen.

" _It's pretty cool. What are you using it for? A banner?"_

"Nope!" Kotarou said with too much enthusiasm. "Our uniforms!"

At the mention of that, Tatsuya's sleepy and dragged down face suddenly morphed into a beautiful smile. _"You're getting uniforms?! Now you're making me even more eager to come back!"_

"Don't worry; we'll have one for you as well." Kazunari said.

" _So who's going to wear which number? Especially number 4._ " he then asked. This caused the five in the room to fall silent. They then looked at each other and as if reading each other's minds, Shouichi, Tetsuya, Kazunari and Kotarou answering at the same time:

"Yu-chan", "Yuki", "Yukio-kun", "Yukio-chan."

"Shou." Yukio responded. But when he realized that the others had nominated him, he let out a screech that sounded too much like Kise. "Me?"

"You're perfect for this role, Yuki."

"So are you!"

"I'll be your vice." He smiled.

Tatsuya chuckled. _"So, since that's settled, who'd be number six?"_

"I know I'm number seven!" Kotarou perked. "It's the same number I wear at Rakuzan."

"That leaves Kazunari, Tetsuya and you, Tatsuya." Shouichi said. "Six, eight and nine. Choose."

" _I'll go with nine. That's the number I currently have._ " Tatsuya replied.

"I'm okay with any number." Tetsuya said with a shrug. "It's far better than the fifteen I had worn at Teikou for three years."

That made the other boys shut up. Silence washed over them so suddenly, that Tetsuya had to wonder if he had said anything wrong. A minute or two passed and no one said anything. Not even Tatsuya.

"What?" he asked, getting annoyed by the silence.

" _Weren't you their famous phantom sixth? Why did you wear fifteen for the entire three years?"_ Tatsuya asked with a raised eyebrow. _"I don't get that."_

"And even Kise, he joined in his second year and he got to wear number eight after a time." Yukio said. "What? Is it because you're a support player?" he sounded angry this time.

"But he's the best support player I've ever come across." Shouichi joined in. "No one can do what Tetsuya can."

"Tsch, those miracles were just being assholes." Kotarou huffed. "Man, I can't wait to see their faces when Tetsuya kicks their asses in Inter-High." he then let out a chuckle. "Even though I'm on Akashi's team."

"Yeah, so what's your number Tetsu-chan?" Kazunari asked.

"I'd just go with eight." He replied.

"Then I'd be six!" he perked. He then turned to Tatsuya. "You know, Tetsu-chan and Yu-chan had a practice match and Tetsu-chan's school won!"

" _Really?!"_

"Yes," Yukio nodded with a smile. "The Seirin bastards are quite persistent." Everyone erupted in laughter when Yukio said that, and since neither of the others was present at the match, Yukio and Tetsuya were the only ones who spoke about the match.

_xxxx_

The sun was bright and high in the sky; Shouichi huffed as he pedaled towards the park. Harajuku Park was fairly close to them, they decided to use the ricksaw as a means of transport. No one wanted to pedal that thing, so Tanaka had proposed that they decide by rock, paper, scissors. Kazunari was exempted as he pedals the thing every day with Midorima in it, so only the other four were participating. Yukio had managed to escape, so too did Kotarou. That only left Shouichi and Tetsuya.

The older boy couldn't find it in his heart to make Tetsuya pedal the thing with four of them in the back, so he volunteered. But right now, Shouichi was dying to reach the park. Pedalling a ricksaw with _four_ healthy teenagers in the back wasn't easy and he was starting to wonder if once they started their matches, his legs would give out. Shaking his head to rid the thoughts, he decided to pedal a little faster, reaching the park quicker.

As usual, the park was noisy and full of chatter, different street ball teams converging to sign up, engage in conversations with others, or just simply lazing around until the matches start. What Shouichi and Tetsuya noticed this time was that there was a lot of 'students' this time around, being that in almost all of the teams that they had passed, one out of the five, either boy had played before.

When they had made it to the tent, they realized that they were being stared at and whispers flying about. It was then that they realized what Kotarou had said:

" _We're pretty well known…"_

And it was true. They were the team who has conquered every street ball competition that happened near to them, not because they wanted to dominate but because they simply just want to play basketball with each other.

Yukio then signed them up, and after they then headed to find a comfortable spot until the matches began. When they had reached another section of the park, they had encountered more teams there, but something odd happened.

One of the teams, in Yukio and Shouichi's eyes, they were _definitely_ younger than they were, probably in the same age group as Kotarou or Tetsuya and Kazunari. The team was practicing it seems, but something caught their eyes. The way this team moved seemed like an amateur team, and out of the kindness of his heart, Tetsuya made a step towards them. Knowing the blue-haired boy, the others knew what he was up to, so they followed suit.

"Hello." Tetsuya greeted. The boys nearly jumped out of their skins as they hadn't noticed Tetsuya walk up to them.

"Uh hello, to you too." Boy A said, he wore a cap. But then when the others came up, they realized who they were. "RimFire?!"

"Yo!" Kotarou greeted. He then manoeuvred around the others and made his way to another boy who had the ball tucked under his arm. "I noticed that your dribbling needs work," the blond started. The boy looked shocked at this statement but said nothing. "Since I am the Dribble King, let me show you some ways to destroy your opponents." Without even waiting for the boy's response, Kotarou dragged him off away from the group.

"Might as well," Shouichi said. He then looked to the boy with the cap and said, "Come with me, your threes are a disaster."

Yukio, Kazunari and Tetsuya followed as well, deciding to help the team in whatever way they could. Yukio aided their point guard with some techniques, so too did Kazunari and Tetsuya. Since Tetsuya couldn't do much like the others, all he advised the boy was that to make his passes faster, before he receives the ball, he should know where his teammates are first.

And so, word travelled fast, and not before long, many teams had surrounded them begging for tips as well. After all, they were _RimFire_ , the undefeated kings of street ball. But, being the good boys that they were, they had decided to help out those they can, Kotarou, Shouichi and Yukio having the most going to them, Kazunari and Tetsuya getting off with about half the amount of the others.

The minutes went by quickly and soon, the announcement was made, signalling the start of the competition. After getting those tips from RimFire, a lot of teams were fired up, wanting to put their skills to the test. As for RimFire, they didn't mind one bit.

The competition started, the teams fighting tooth and nail to get through to the finals, some teams were just overwhelmed by others. As for RimFire, they breezed through the rounds all the while having fun, it was clear to everyone that they played that the smiles on their faces weren't that of mockery or scorn but genuine _fun._

It was then time for the finals, and of course, it was RimFire versus a team from Saitama prefecture ― SkyScraper. They were quite normal; the regular height for basketballers, the only thing that RimFire noticed was that their centre was not only tall but huge as well.

"Damn, Tatsu needs to hurry and come to Japan." Kotarou sighed. "I can't deal with this."

"Calm down Kotarou." Yukio said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "All we have to do is burn up this court,"

"RimFire style!" Kazunari finished. "Hey, we should use that as our motto or something."

"Definitely," Shouichi grinned.

They then walked onto the court to line up in front of SkyScraper, and when they had bowed, they got into their positions, once more, Shouichi and their centre was the one who faced off for the ball. And as always, Shouichi didn't put much effort into jumping so by the time the opposing team's point guard had gotten the ball, Tetsuya had already knocked the ball from his hands, sending it rocketing to Kazunari who was already making his way towards the net.

SkyScraper's shooting guard and power forward dashed down there in an attempt to stop the boy, but Shouichi and Kotarou came up to block them. Kazunari then made a bank shot, earning the first two points of the game. RimFire then headed back to defend.

Centre then retrieved the ball from under the net, and then passed it to Shooting Guard who dribbled until he reached the centre circle. He then passed it to Point Guard who immediately faced off against Yukio at the top of the circle. Point Guard continued to dribble the ball, looking at his options.

Shooting Guard was with Shouichi at the right wing, Power Forward was with Kotarou in the paint, Small Forward was with Kazunari at the left wing, Centre was under the net unmarked. He cursed, as he knew that the ghost player was somewhere lurking about but he couldn't see him.

He then tried to make a drive past Yukio but the captain was not to be trifled with. Point Guard had attempted to pass him on the left, so Yukio shifted to the left to stop him in his tracks. Point Guard drew back, shifting his position so that the ball hand was behind him. He tsk'ed', seeing that his options are limited. But then it dawned on him. RimFire has no centre and their centre is currently unmarked.

Point Guard then took a step back and shot the ball. When RimFire saw this, they let out a sigh, knowing that neither of them would be able to catch the ball once it rebounded. And so it was. The moment the ball bounced off the rim, Centre jumped and caught it with ease, tipping it back into the net.

The two teams were now tied.

It was RimFire's turn to go on the offensive, and they were fast. Kotarou and Kazunari had gone on ahead; Shouichi retrieved the ball, and then passed it to Tetsuya who sent it flying down the court to Yukio. Without hitch, when Point Guard came up to block him, Yukio bounced the ball through Point Guard's legs, Kazunari catching it and then passing it to Kotarou through the narrow space between Shooting Guard and Power Forward.

Kotarou then made his way towards the net where he came upon the towering figure of Centre. Using three fingers, Kotarou dribbled the ball with his lightning style, Centre and the others finding it hard to follow the ball. The loud dribble echoed, once the audience heard this, they knew that the lightning dribble was coming out.

Kotarou dashed past Centre with ease but Power Forward was fast. When Kotarou had jumped to make a shot, Power Forward jumped as well. With a smirk, Kotarou then passed the ball behind him to Kazunari, who then gave it to Tetsuya. He then redirected it to Shouichi who was at his spot. The bespectacled teen made a perfect three, effortlessly.

Yukio gave him a high five as they returned into their half of the court to defend. Tetsuya, Kazunari and Kotarou then followed suit, and not before long, they were all in a zone defense. When SkyScraper saw this, they knew that it would be hard to get through that, RimFire was famous for their defense as well, and what was even worse, they didn't have a centre.

Point Guard began to fret. It was times like these that their ghost player swoops in and steals the ball, the others then creating a defense so that whoever was shooting could do so freely. He then passed the ball to Power Forward and the tall youth then thundered toward the net. Seeing the built teen running towards them, they cleared a pathway for him, but as soon as he reached into the paint, Point Guard realized something.

"No! Get out of there!" he shouted. But it was too late. Tetsuya stole the ball and passed it to Yukio who then dashed past Point Guard. Upon reaching the centre circle, he then passed it to Kazunari who dribbled a little further. Small Forward then came up on him, and in that instance, he used the behind the back pass to get the ball to Kotarou. Once more, the loud dribbling sounded and Power Forward was determined that he'll stop Kotarou this time.

But, it was futile.

Once more, Kotarou passed him with ease, but instead of going for a shot, he passed the ball to Yukio who was already in position. He sank the ball, RimFire earning yet another three points.

Thus, the match continued, the two teams going back and forth and accumulating points. SkyScraper wasn't bad at all, their Centre proved to be lethal when it came onto rebounds and defending, and when he decides to dunk, not even Shouichi and Kotarou could stop him; he still dunked, blowing the two away.

Point Guard did his job well, even though he was unable to pass Yukio without the aid of a screen, he prevented Power Forward from doing mistakes. He also created a lot of plays for his team, and throughout, Yukio praised him for his skills.

Small Forward was not to be forgotten. He lived up to his title quite well, one instance when Kazunari blocked him, he swiftly went into turnaround. The hawk-eyed boy was still able to stop him, but that moment, he went into a jump stop and shot a three.

"Damn, you're good." Kazunari had said to the boy.

"Thanks." Small Forward had replied in a soft voice.

Power Forward was the hothead of SkyScraper. With his build and power, he often time thundered towards RimFire and if it wasn't for Point Guard, either he would have picked-up a foul, or have the ball stolen. But his dunks were powerful, both he and Centre RimFire steered clear of. They had especially told Tetsuya not to go near those two, as they could crush him.

Shooting Guard made his threes as soon as he got the ball. In some ways, he reminded Shouichi of Sakurai. Even though the boy wasn't as fast as his shooting guard, his releases were nothing to sniff at.

But RimFire was savage as usual. Yukio was amazing with the way he created plays, both him and Tetsuya getting the ball around to the others. What is more, whenever he felt like shooting threes he was just as dangerous as Shouichi.

On that note, Shouichi made threes after threes after threes. He would always be in a good position to make a shot, and sometimes without even realizing, the ball would appear in his hands perfectly, giving him a boost to make the shot.

Kazunari was doing well as a small forward. He showed the most versatility, being that sometimes, he goes into his point guard mode and works with Yukio and Tetsuya. This trio combo was frightening, and SkyScraper was totally appalled by their teamwork.

Kotarou, in most people's eyes was extremely dangerous in comparison to the others. Not only were his dribbles so fast that it seems that the ball had disappeared, he had _other_ types of dribbles in his arsenal. He had combined his famous lightning dribble with the hesitation dribble and that was catastrophic for Power Forward. One moment he'd see the ball and the next he'd only be hearing loud dribbles. The only time he sees the ball is when Kotarou paused. Add to that, with the hesitation dribble, the defender is unable to know what the ball handler is going to do next. Yes, Kotarou gave Power Forward one hell of a time.

And then there's Tetsuya. The one who always invisible, never to be seen by the opponents until he steals the ball or passes it. Many a time he went on stealing sprees, but the most fatal one was when he started to coordinate with Yukio and then the two added a third element into the mix ― Kazunari. For SkyScraper, it felt as though there were three point guards at the time, and it gave them headaches and eye aches. The ball was passed so fast that it seemed like an orange blur, many persons watching starting to wonder if they'll need glasses after this.

The crowd as well were cheering, the commentators getting them in the mood as well. With the match being fast paced and well, RimFire doing their usual antics, everyone knew that SkyScraper wouldn't ― _couldn't_ ― have won. But that didn't mean they couldn't try.

It was strange, though, to most people. Even though SkyScraper was losing, they had smiles on their faces. Some people thought that it must be due to RimFire enjoying the match as well, while others thought that it was due to RimFire praising them whenever they did something cool.

This was one of the many reasons why people always gathered to watch RimFire play. They weren't condescending, or arrogant, they were normal people who could play basketball well, who also praised their opponents. Many of the teams present were in high school and many of them remembered in Middle school when they had to face Teikou. At that time, they were crushed and for some had even hated basketball. But ever since this summer that they had crossed paths with RimFire, their love for basketball had returned.

Once more, the crowd riled up, upon seeing Power Forward thunder towards RimFire's net. By now the teams were on nineteen and twenty points, RimFire of course leading. If Power Forward makes this shot, then they'll be the winner.

However, he failed to see Tetsuya standing in the paint until it was too late. The moment he passed the boy, he swiped the ball out of his hands, using the Ignite Pass to get it Yukio. The ball landed firmly in his hands and he dribbled down court to the top of the circle. SkyScraper chased him down, but then he passed to Kazunari who then passed to Shouichi who was by the left wing.

Flawlessly, he made a three.

The referee then blew his whistle, signalling the end of the match. RimFire and the crowd cheered, strangely, SkyScraper didn't look that sulky. Sure, it was clear that they were sad that they had lost, but they felt better seeing that _the_ RimFire had praised them.

When they were supposed to line up, RimFire and SkyScraper shook hands and such, laughing with each other as well. For both teams, it had been a fun match.

"Twenty-three to Nineteen, RimFire!"

"Thank you very much!"

_xxxx_

Kotarou was the first to exit the car, followed by the others. Tanaka had gone to watch their matches, and upon seeing how tired their legs were, he decided to drive them back home. The ricksaw was in the trunk (even though the trunk couldn't close because of it). When they had made it in the house, the boys crawled into the sofa and the beanbag chairs, panting.

"That was a good match, boys." Tanaka smiled at them as he headed into the kitchen. "SkyScraper wasn't bad at all."

"Yeah, they were very good. I'd like to play them again." Shouichi said. "But Tatsuya has to come first, we need his height."

"Don't worry; he'll be here sooner than we all think." Kotarou grinned. "I can't wait to see how good he's gotten!"

"On a different note," Tetsuya then said, "I think I may need a massage. Anyone care to do it?"

" _I'm_ the one who needs it." Shouichi said. "I had to pedal you all in the ricksaw to Harajuku this morning!"

"Well, no one told you to suck at rock, paper, scissors." Yukio countered. "That's your misfortune."

"Yuki! Aren't you supposed to be on my side?!"

But that was left unanswered. Tanaka had returned carrying a tray that had five huge cups of ice water. He then gave each boy one and like beasts living in the desert, they devoured it within seconds and asked for more. Instead of taking the cups, Tanaka went for the jug and poured the water into their cups.

"Thank you Tanaka-san!" the boys chorused.

"Sure, just try not to drink too much, I'm cooking curry today." He smiled. The grins on their faces told him that he'd need to cook more than the average amount this time. Tanaka chuckled as he made his way into the kitchen.

 _My boys are something else._ He thought with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

 

The time of Inter-High Preliminaries drew closer and each school that was participating were all in high gear, the coaches trying to get their boys ready as much as possible.

At Seirin, Kagami had started to train with Mitobe, as upon discovering who they'll be facing first, Riko realized that Kagami would be the best to mark him. Their first opponent would be Shinkyo Academy, and while the other players weren't much of a threat, they had gained an exchanged student from Senegal ― Papa Mbaye Siki ― or 'Dad' according to Tetsuya.

In addition, Tetsuya's training had changed as well, focusing more and stamina and speed. He wasn't bad since he plays street ball almost every Saturday with the others. He didn't mind this, as not only will it help for when he plays official matches but their street matches as well.

Aside from that, Riko killed them. Sometimes they had road runs to strengthen their legs and build stamina. Another time, they had a day for sit-ups and suicides and other mortifying exercises. The boys had detested this part of their training but if Riko had heard so much as a whimper, she'd up their training.

xxxx

At Kaijou, Takeuchi worked them almost to death, being that he was still smoldering from their practice match. That said, Kise was there as well, showing up everyday except for when they had practice on weekends. Yukio chuckled at this, being that ever since RimFire, neither of them had gone to their weekend practices. His mind then ran on Kotarou, who had Akashi for his captain. He wondered just what excuses the boy cooked up to be able to skip practice. After all, every Friday when he arrives, he looks as chirpy and refreshing as ever.

But taking his mind off that, he realized that everyone of the boys present were focused on practice. Kise, who would usually whine and complain about _something_ was very silent that it had Yukio thinking that the blond may have been secretly ill. Hayakawa as well, while he was the usual loudmouth, screaming when he was going to get rebounds, he was silent too.

Be it running suicides or jogging outside or playing a mini-match, the regulars of Kaijou didn't make a peep. Yukio smiled at the temporary peace, as he knew that come Inter-High, his ears will be longing for this.

"Kasamatsu! Are you spacing out?!" Takeuchi shouted. "Get back to practice!"

"Hai!" he responded dashing back into place.

xxxx

Over by Shutoku, Kazunari and Midorima were the same as usual. The regimen had gotten more intense, but to everyone present, those two seemed to be having a duo thing going on. Midorima seemed to be oblivious, while Kazunari seems to be pushing it. Miyaji shook his head when he saw this, at least they were training hard.

"Shin-chan!" Kazunari shouted as he passed the shooter the ball. With a bounce it landed firmly in his palms and he made his shot. "Good going Shin-chan!"

"Hmph. You should know me by now, Takao." Midorima said as he pushed up his glasses. "My shots don't miss."

Another time, the team heard Kazunari calling Midorima's name once again. And again and again. It was starting to get annoying but when they looked at Midorima's face, it was clear that their ace was ticked off. Kazunari had a playful look on his face.

"Takao seems to be enjoying this." Kimura said.

"Of course, pedaling that ricksaw with Midorima in it everyday must be torture. I don't wrong him for trying to get back at him at some other time." Miyaji shrugged.

"How did things end up that way, though?" Otsubo joined in. "Just what kind of agreement did they have?"

"I heard it was Janken."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, and Takao loses every time."

Nakatani had then announced that they could take a break, the boys all strolling off the court while some were collapsing. Kazunari sighed as he plopped himself down on the floor. His arms felt like jello, his legs...not so much. _Must be because I pedal the ricksaw everyday._ However, he came out of his thoughts when he heard the ball bouncing. Looking up, he saw that it was Midorima.

He continued to shoot, never going off his rhythm, never missing a shot. Kazunari found it admirable of him, even though he was one of the Generation of Miracles, in comparison to what he's heard from the others (especially Shouichi and Kotarou), he wasn't all that bad. He shows up to practice early like everyone else, he doesn't prioritize anything over basketball (Oha-Asa doesn't disrupt his attendance or anything), the only problem that Kazunari has with the green-haired boy was his lack of teamwork skills.

As Kazunari sat there, he then began to wonder what if it was Aomine at Shutoku instead of Midorima. He busts out in laughter, as he knew that Miyaji and Kimura's pineapple plan would have been put into action many times for the tanned ace. Oh yes, what a sight that would have been. He then got up and headed out onto the court towards the shooter.

"Ne, Shin-chan," he started.

"What is it Takao?" Midorima asked, seeming as though he was snapping at the boy. "How dare you interrupt my shooting."

"Me? Oh no." Kazunari grinned. "I'll be helping. I'm your point guard aren't I? My job is to create plays for my team, so that's what I'm doing. I'll make sure you can catch my passes with your eyes closed."

Midorima adjusted the glasses on his face to hide the small smile.

xxxx

Shouichi bounced the ball as he made his way to the top of the circle. They were currently having a mini-match, regulars versus the bench. So far, his team was winning, minus the help of Aomine. The boy had yet to show up to a practice and frankly, Shouichi had given up trying to get him to come a long time ago.

He had then chest passed the ball to Susa who then passed it to Sakurai. Without hitch, he released it, earning them another three points. Coach Harasawa then blew his whistle, signalling the end of the match. Quickly, the boys retreated to the stage to refresh themselves.

"Man, that brat!" hearing the voice, Shouichi sighed. Wakamatsu is as loud as ever. "Why can't he ever show up?! Not even once?! Inter-High is around the corner!"

"Wakamatsu, calm down." Shouichi said. "I believe in Aomine's skills, but, _if_ any day we were to lose because of him, I'll deal with him, personally." Shouichi's face darkened the moment he said so, Wakamatsu and the rest of the team wondered just what kind of monster did they have as a captain.

xxxx

Rakuzan was the usual. Their training seemed otherworldly, but their captain, Akashi Seijuurou makes it look like a walk in the park. Kotarou made a mental note of this, the moment the weekend came again, he was sure to ask Tetsuya what the redheaded teen was really made out of.

They were then given a five minute break, Kotarou sighed as he made his way to his bag. When he reached, he took out his water bottle and collapsed onto his butt. He chugged down the liquid fairly quickly, and when he was done, he sighed once again. His eyes then caught Akashi who was jogging towards his bag.

Even though Kotarou hates Akashi's totalitarian behaviour, he couldn't _completely_ hate the boy. He works hard just like the rest of them, or even harder. He's ambitious and knows what he wants but still, that absolute behaviour pisses him off to no end. What's worse, Shirogane _allows_ him to do what he wants.

"Tsch, talk about pampered and spoilt." he mumbled.

xxxx

It was the time for Inter-High Preliminaries to start. Seirin's first match was against Shinkyo Academy, the one that they had been preparing the most for (apart from their eventual match-up with Shutoku). When they had entered the gym to start their warm-ups, they noticed that Papa wasn't there. After all, he would have literally stood out if he was.

It was not too long that they heard a loud 'Ouch' coming from the direction of the entrance. When their eyes met him, they gaped in shock, Tetsuya...not so much. Murasakibara was far bigger than him anyway. He was then taken out of his thoughts when he heard Shinkyo's captain, Tanimura Yusuke say something to Hyuuga.

"By the way did you guys really beat Kaijou?" he asked.

"It was just a practice game."

"I see. I guess the Generation of Miracles isn't as strong as we thought."

"The Generation of Miracles lost? They brought me here to beat them." Papa shrugged his shoulders, "I'm disappointed that they're so weak." He then walked off, but as soon as he did so, he bumped something…he couldn't see what it was or rather, _who_ it was.

When he looked around, he still didn't see Tetsuya but then he looked down. There he was, staring up at him. Papa then took him up under the arm and held him up. Tetsuya was not amused. Even though he and the other miracles were not on good terms, he still couldn't sit back and allow this.

"No little boy, children shouldn't be on the court." Papa said to him. Suddenly, a mysterious breeze whipped up and exposed Tetsuya's jersey from beneath the white shirt. Tetsuya's anger was almost boiling over. "You're a player?" Papa asked as he put him down. Tetsuya continued to stare. "Hmph. They lost to a child like him? Are all the Generation of Miracles children?" Meanwhile, the Seirin was laughing and snickering at the sight. Tetsuya was pissed ― er ― livid.

"Honestly, I'm starting to get annoyed." He said. They stopped laughing.

Kagami got up off the floor and said, "You don't like losing do you?" he asked as he took off his shirt. "I guess we should better show Dad why he shouldn't piss off kids."

xxxx

The match ended, Seirin being victorius, Seventy-nine to sixty-seven. Tetsuya had been quite destructive in the last quarter when he was subbed in, teaching Papa a lesson. He inwardly chuckled, this was similar to Kaijou at their practice match, underestimating a team because they _looked_ weak. Tetsuya was basking in their victory, and if he was like Shouichi, he would have definitely rubbed it in their faces. The bespectacled teen could be quite savage in instances like this, worse, if Yukio decides to join in.

However, when all was said and done, when they were about to leave, Papa had came over and said something to Kagami.

"I lost." he started. "Please play hard for me in your next game."

"Uh sure," Kagami replied.

The Senegalese player then changed his expression. "I mean you're an idiot! An idiot!"

Kagami seemed to almost burst a blood vessel, Tetsuya was boiling with rage. If he had said this before the match started, it would have made things worse for them. Tetsuya then made a note of this, and decided that he'll make one of the other guys play a match against them. Preferably Shouichi or Kotarou. Inwardly, Tetsuya smirked evilly.

Tanimura then came and dragged away the boy, while he kept shouting, "You moron! I won't lose next time!"

Tetsuya's face darkened. He couldn't wait to reach home.

xxxx

The other boys' matches went on without a hitch, their teams overpowering their opponents. Touou was fierce, however, it seemed more like it was Aomine versus the other team. The others were just there to steal the ball, block their offense and give Aomine the ball. The tanned ace stormed in through their opponents defense, making shots after shots.

By the time the match was done, Touou was at one-hundred and twenty while the other team was on the thirty-three.

For Kaijou it was a similar thing, except that Kise passed the ball when he saw the need or the possibility to. Yukio and Moriyama made a lot of threes, Kobori's defense was well done and Hayakawa, he enjoyed getting the rebounds. Kise seemed to have had fun as well, he went in for dunks multiple times, weaving through their defense. At the end, Kaijou was victorius, with a score of one-hundred to sixty.

For Shutoku, Midorima was the same as always. For him, the match was nothing less than a warm-up, in his eyes, their weekly practices were far more intense. That said, once he got the ball from Kazunari, he always made an effortless and flawless three. However, he didn't play for the entirety of the match. When he had given Shutoku a good enough lead, he was then subbed off, indicating to Otsubo that he was done. The captain had then signalled the coach and the substitution was made.

At Rakuzan, there wasn't much that could be said. They were known as the 'Emperor of Creation', the school to have been winning Inter-High since it began. With three of the five Uncrowned Kings, _plus_ the former captain of the Generation of Miracles, their team was indeed a formidable line up. But, Akashi didn't play in this match, as it was 'not to his liking'. The team crushed their opponent, one-hundred and fifty three to forty three. Kotarou's dribbling killed his defender, Mibuchi's forms of shooting caused their shooting guard to pick up fouls, Nebuya's defense was superb and Mayuzumi's passing kept the ball going around.

xxxx

"I'm home!" Shouichi said as he opened the door. He took off his shoes and then looked in the kitchen to see who was home. It was empty. With a shrug of his shoulders, he then made his way up the stairs to his and Yukio's room but when he opened the door, what he saw left him speechless. Yukio, Tetsuya and Kazunari were sitting on the floor, leaning their backs against the wall. However, Tetsuya and Kazunari were on either side of Yukio, the eldest boy draped his arms around both their shoulders. Their heads were rested on his chest, all three of them fast asleep.

Without being able to control himself, he quickly took out his phone and took a picture. "Wait 'till Tanaka-san sees this." he chuckled. "And Kotarou..."

As stealthily as he could, he then placed his bag on Yukio's chair and started to think of a way to move all three of them without either waking up. After all, in that position, should they stay like that, they'd definitely get neck aches when they get up.

He tapped his chin in contemplation.

The best way to start is by moving Kazunari first. Due to how Yukio is set, he would fall, so that's the best way to do it. Slowly, he removed Yukio's hand from the boy's shoulder and with a heave, he took up Kazunari and placed him on his bed.

"Holy Shit," he panted, "What are you eating Kazunari?" he said as he looked at the sleeping boy. But then when he looked at the other two, he groaned. Moving Yukio would not be an easy task. He then got up and motioned to where Tetsuya was when he heard a shout from downstairs.

"I'm home!"

Immediately, he knew who it was. With a grin, he headed towards his door. When Kotarou came up the stairs, he saw Shouichi, with a soft look on his face. With an eyebrow raised, he approached the older teen.

"What's up? Why's the place so quiet?"

"The Three musketeers are asleep." he replied. Kotarou chuckled. Shouichi then went into his pocket and took out his phone, showing Kotarou the picture. The blond's eyes turned to hearts, looking at how cute the three looked. Without even a word, Shouichi then sent the picture to the boy and within seconds, he received it.

"Now, help me move the other two. They can't sleep like that."

"Sure, but how did you manage Kazunari?" Kotarou asked with shock. "Pedaling him in the ricksaw the other day made me realize that he's got weight."

"I had managed." Shouichi paled. "Just barely."

The two then headed inside the room, and while Shouichi had held Yukio to keep him in place, Kotarou had then placed his hand underneath Tetsuya's knees and one hand around his back. Then, he took him up and placed him on Yukio's bed.

"Tetsuya has weight as well. Despite how he looks." Kotarou said. "I can tell that at school, Kazunari eats like a monster. I'm positive."

"Well, Yuki's left." Shouichi started sweating. "This will be a herculean task."

"Don't say it like that Shou-nii." Kotarou said playfully. "Now, let's do this."

Kotarou then placed both his hands under Yukio's knees, while Shouichi held him under both his arms. With a grunt, the two boys then lift Yukio and then they realized something. The way they had placed Kazunari and Tetsuya on either bed, there was no way that Yukio could fit. They started to feel it in their arms and back.

"Shit," Kotarou huffed. "Where are we going to put him?"

"Quick, can you use your feet to push over Tetsuya a little bit? We just need a little a space to put Yuki down."

"Right," he then turned adjacent to the bed, and used his right foot to push Tetsuya. The blue-haired boy let out a sleepy groan, which prompted Kotarou to stop. He then rolled over to the other side of the bed, ending up on his back. With a sigh of relief, Kotarou and Shouichi then placed Yukio beside the boy, and silently hooted in joy.

"My back, I'm getting too old for this." Kotarou let out, sitting in the space on Shouichi's bed.

"Then what I'm supposed to say?" Shouichi groaned out. He then took a seat on the chair, while Kotarou sat on the table. They then looked at the sleeping boys and a smile graced their faces. Soon, Shouichi started to doze off, so too did Kotarou. Since his back was against the wall, he was quite comfortable. Within a minute or so, the two were fast asleep as well, not even getting a chance to change out of their jerseys.

Tanaka had then returned home about half of an hour later and found it strange that the house was silent. He then thought three things ― either the boys hadn't reached home as yet, they've gone to the street ball court, or they're sleeping. He then headed up the stairs, to see which option was true. He looked in Tetsuya and Kazunari's room, and found that it was empty. He then moved onto the opposite room, and found that the five boys were in the room.

He chuckled at the sight. Kotarou was seated on the table and leaned his back to the wall. His head was held down with his feet dangling and Tanaka could see that he was sleeping. Shouichi was seated in the chair which was positioned beside Kotarou. His head was rested on Kotarou's thigh, and he too, was fast asleep.

When Tanaka looked on the beds, he almost bust with laughter. On Yukio's bed, there were Tetsuya, sprawled out on his back, Yukio was beside him, but he was turned in Tetsuya's direction. On Shouichi's bed there was Kazunari, his left leg hanging off the side of the bed, his upper body was slightly turned to the left, his right arm was on his abdomen while his left arm was stretched outwards.

Shaking his head, Tanaka then moved to Shouichi and Kotarou, deciding to move them to Tetsuya and Kazunari's room as there's no way they could sleep like that. However, he knew that moving two healthy basketballers was not going to be easy.

"Dear God, please don't let me wring out my back." He said as he made his way to Kotarou. "I'm too young to have back problems." Which, was kinda true, Tanaka had yet to reach forty, as a matter of fact, he's still a little way off.

He then went over to Kotarou and pulled the boy closer to him. He had fallen limply into the man's arms, he staggered back as the weight was more than he had anticipated. Struggling, he made his way into Tetsuya and Kazunari's room, and placed the boy on Kazunari's bed. He then leaned his back on the wall, and huffed. He then returned to the room and with a smile, he simply fixed Shouichi on the chair until his head was resting on the back of it. He then pushed the boy out of the room (it was a swivel chair), and quickly he had heaved him out and placed him on Tetsuya's bed.

Feeling accomplished, Tanaka then headed downstairs to start dinner. Knowing these boys, they'll be up the moment they smelt his cooking.

"Ma, they are my boys anyway."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

 

As Tanaka made his way downstairs, he massaged his back as carrying Kotarou into Tetsuya and Kazunari's room was one hell of a task. Add to that, he had to lift Shouichi out of the chair onto Tetsuya's bed...that was not simple at all. He then took off his jacket and headed into the kitchen, preparing dinner for his boys when they woke up.

He opened the fridge and took out the ingredients that he needed after which he searched for the utensils. In a saucepan, he had poured water and placed the kombu in it. He then set it on the stove, over a medium heat.

While that was heating, he then cut the tonkatsu into strips and then set it aside on the counter. He reached for a small bowl, cracked the eggs and began to beat them until they were smooth. When that was done, he set it beside the tonkatsu strips and proceeded to wash the rice. Within a minute or two, the rice was ready and he placed it in a pot and set it on the stove to steam.

By now, the water just started to boil, and Tanaka then removed the kombu from it. He took up a packet of bonito flakes and placed it in the pot, allowing the water to come to a rapid simmer. With a smile, he allowed it to simmer for about a minute. When that was done, he removed the pan from the heat and made it steep for an additional five minutes.

While that steeping, in a frying pan, he added soy sauce, sugar, Sake, and mirin. He looked at the rice and saw that it was not yet ready. He then strained the broth, pouring it into the frying pan.

He was in the process of chopping the vegetables, while the meat was left in a bowl with seasonings. He hummed an upbeat tune as he did so, seeming to be going in a rhythm.

As the sweet aroma floated upwards into the boys' rooms, their eyes flew open. Kotarou had bolted upright, and swung his feet off the bed. Shouichi had already gotten up and had opened the door. Across from them, Yukio had opened the door, allowing Kazunari and Tetsuya to exit before him. Without a word to each other. they flew downstairs, and sat swiftly in their seats. Tanaka was oblivious to what was happening behind him as they made absolutely no sound.

"Oh right, the boys are sleeping." he said in realization. "I'll just go ―" he broke off as he saw the five boys sitting around the table. "―wake them up?"

"Hello Tanaka-san," they chorused, sounding a bit too chirpy for their own good.

"Weren't you just sleeping?" the landlord was beginning to wonder just _what_ are these boys.

"Yes, but the smell from your amazing cooking has woken us from our deep slumber!" Kazunari started. Tanaka looked at the boys with disbelief. He was able to move Shouichi and Kotarou from one room to another without either of them even stirring but now they've woken up just because they _smelt_ his cooking?

_Unbelievable._ He thought. But he was then taken out of his thoughts by Kotarou.

"I thank you my Liege." the blond said with a nod of his head. "We shall accept this feast with empty stomachs."

A chuckle escaped his lips, after which he then returned to the kitchen and couple minutes had arrived with their dinner. He had made a _katsudon_ for them.

_xxxx_

"So how was the Preliminaries?" Tanaka then asked the boys after dinner.

"It was alright." the boys answered in unison. They then laughed out loud seeing that they came out with the same response.

"Well, Aomine destroyed our opponents. All we ever did was get the ball to him and defend." Shouichi sighed. "Frankly, it was Aomine versus Jouzen. I don't know what I'm going to do with him."

"Well, same here." Yukio said. "We made it through our first round with ease. Kise was quite helpful as well." he then chuckled. "He's learning to trust us and pass."

"Ain't that good?" Kazunari smirked. "Shin-chan was his usual tsundere self and well, since Oha-Asa had ranked Cancer number one today, we had nothing to fear."

"My team as well. Even Dad gave us a somewhat difficult time, but Kagami-kun kept him at bay." Tetsuya joined in.

"Your naming sense never ceases to amaze me." Shouichi chuckled.

"Tsch, I envy you all." Kotarou said with a saddened expression. "My basketball life is quite sad, you see. Akashi is just...Akashi. I can't even describe his behaviour."

"What happened this time?" Tanaka asked. Apart from Yukio, he was also known for his complaints about the redhead.

"Well, I didn't get to play _just because_ I told Akashi not to look down on our opponents."

The table fell into silence. Yukio had the most pissed off face they'd ever seen, Shouichi could only manage a smile, but everyone there could see that the smile was giving off a different message. Kazunari seemed to have been frozen in shock, while Tetsuya almost choked on his food.

"Well, this is how it went..." Kotarou started.

_xxxx_

" _Our opponents are nothing to be worked up about. As a matter of fact, you can take it easy. There's no need to play at your best."_

" _You? Aren't you playing Sei-chan?" Mibuchi asked._

" _Of course not. It's not to my liking, and plus, our opponents aren't worth it."_

" _Akashi!" Kotarou said. "You can't belittle our opponents like that! You don't know what surprise they can ―"_

" _Do you want to be benched?"_

" _No...but, it's blatant disrespect to look down on our opponents!"_

" _Excuse me, Kotarou?" Akashi said as he made a step towards him. "For you to be worrying about our opponents, it seems that you aren't training hard enough." he then turned to another player. "Hideki, you're starting in Kotarou's place."_

" _What?" the blond shouted. "Coach! Do something!"_

" _Akashi knows what he's doing." Shirogane simply replied. "You may get to play in the second half."_

" _Tsch," Kotarou huffed as he folded his arms. He then sat down on the bench, seething with discontent._

_xxxx_

"That Akashi needs his ass to be kicked." Kazunari then said. "I can't believe that you didn't play just because of that!"

"Talk about petty." Yukio said as he rolled his eyes. "And that coach, what is he getting paid for? To let some first year brat take charge of his team? This is unbelievable."

"Wow, just wow." Tanaka could only manage. "Then, what did the other players say?"

"Nothing! They just stood there! Like, it pissed them off as well, but you know...they aren't going to say anything 'cause they don't wanna be benched."

Tetsuya sighed. "The other Akashi-kun has gotten worse."

"Other?" they asked.

"Yes, he has a split personality...and it's the one in control now. The Akashi-kun that I knew at first wasn't like that."

"Good grief." Shouichi shivered while gripping the shirt at his chest. "I need to stop complaining about Aomine then. Akashi is the worst."

"Tell me about it. I'll continue to suffer with Kise. At least he's starting to come around." Yukio sighed. His eyes then brightened. "Since you have a problem and apparently nothing's going to be done about it, why don't you just transfer schools? You could always go to Shutoku with Kazunari."

"Hmm? Why didn't you say Kaijou?" Shouichi asked with a smirk.

"Him and Kise at the same time, in the place, all day, everyday…" he said with a raised brow, " _Hell no._ "

Everyone laughed at their exchange.

"I would gladly transfer, if it was up to me." Kotarou sighed. "My Dad isn't going to allow me to. He'll say 'the Hayama family should always get the best of the best' and blah blah." he then turned to Kazunari. "You know what Dad is like."

"Totally," Kazunari sighed exasperatedly. "That transfer is not going to happen. Ever."

"Well you may never know." Tanaka said trying to cheer them up. He then realized that they hadn't mention anything about streetball. He then leaned forwards and placed his chin in his palm. "Boys, how's streetball going?" he then asked. "Have you hear anything about any competition?"

"Ah, we haven't seen any posters." Kotarou sighed. "I guess because it's Inter-High season. Many people, like us, have to participate. So I guess that's why they've decided to hold off until all this is over."

"That makes sense." Yukio said. "Even though I really miss playing with you guys."

"In due time." Shouichi said with a smirk. "Just store up everything so when we do get to play again, we'll feel much better when we're done."

"On that note, I have good news for you." Tanaka smiled.

"Good news?"

"I can get the uniforms made for you." the moment he said this, their eyes brightened, Kotarou and Kazunari lunged at the man, causing him to stumble backwards almost falling.

"Thank you!" they shouted.

"I only need to know how the colour of your jersey, and the pattern you plan to use."

The boys looked at each other and then they huddled together. "So what should it be?" Tetsuya asked. "White? Black? Blue?" he then looked in Kazunari's direction. "Definitely _not_ orange."

"So mean, Tetsu-chan!" the raven haired boy pouted.

"For real, Shutoku's jersey is abominable." Kotarou said, twisting his face in disgust. "I wouldn't want to be caught dead in bright orange."

"How about a jersey with black, red and blue stripes?" Yukio suggested. "I mean, the black, red and blue would be from our jerseys. You know, since our name will basically be in orange mostly since it's on fire. But I don't know which colour to choose for the overall uniform. White or black?"

"Not a bad idea." Shouichi said tapping his chin in contemplation. "Then to make the effects stand out more, why don't we make the uniform black? Tetsuya's design would stand out more that way." he then looked to Yukio, "And no, it's not because my jersey is already black."

"I didn't say anything, Shou."

"But you would have, Yuki."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I've known you since we were eight."

"But that doesn't say anything."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really."

"Mom, Dad could you please stop the bickering in front of us? It's not good for us especially Tetsuya to see his parents arguing." Kotarou joked with a straight face. Kazunari turned his face away from them, doubling his lips, trying to fight down the laughter. He wanted to laugh but he knew that the two would kill him. Tetsuya, being the master of control that he is, kept his face straight, not even smiling. But deep down, Kazunari and Kotarou knew that he was using all his willpower to not bust out laughing.

However, Yukio and Shouichi looked as though they were about to murder Kotarou.

"Mom?" Yukio asked, his eyebrow twitching as well.

"Dad?" Shouichi said as he pushed up his glasses. The glare from the light made his face look scary but that was what he was aiming for.

The two boys then made a lunge for the blond, swiftly, he ducked away from them. He then dashed up the back door and out in the yard with the two hot on his tail. Busting with laughter, Kazunari then ran to the front door and into the garage for the ricksaw. He then pushed it out onto the round, at this time, he saw Kotarou, Shouichi and Yukio coming from the backyard.

"Ko-chan! Your get-a-away car is here! Hurry!"

"Shit!" the two captains shouted. Yukio then made a dive at the boy, and sadly, he only managed to catch his jacket, causing him to stumble backwards a little bit. Shouichi then managed to grab the boy but then a basketball crashed into head and then blond slithered out of his jacket and made it safely towards the ricksaw.

Without hitch, Kazunari sped off, heading down the road.

"Damn, they escaped." Yukio hissed as helped up Shouichi.

"Maa," he grinned deviously as he dust the dirt off his clothes. "They have to return home at some point right?" Yukio grinned at this. "We'll just ambush them then."

All while this was happening, Tetsuya watched with amusement at their antics, Tanaka on the other hand, saw this as a golden moment, so he took out his phone and videoed.

_xxxx_

The rest of the Preliminaries went on without hitch for the boys, their respective teams making it through the rounds.

For Seirin, after they had won against Shinkyo Academy in the first round, they had to play Jitsuzen High in the second. Tetsuya had been benched the whole game, and they still managed to beat them 118 to 51. Their third game was against Kinga, who was in the top sixteen last year. Even though they had a good balance of offense and defense, that still couldn't stop Seirin. They had beaten them 92 to 51. Everything went smoothly for them, but all the while, Riko could see Tetsuya twitching from a lack of participation.

Their fourth game was against Meijo Academy, and seeing the players, Tetsuya couldn't help but grin. He had nudged Kagami in the side to show him who they were up against. It was the same group of thugs that they along with Kise had beaten on the street ball court in Kanagawa. Tetsuya inwardly chuckled at their misfortune.

They destroyed them 108 to 41; Tetsuya not showing an ounce of mercy.

Winning against Tokyo Gakuen, Shutoku had made it through the first round of the Inter-High Preliminaries. Their second game was against Kokusai High who they crushed 118 to 36. For their third game, they played Shinjuku High school, who, yet again, they had beaten 102 to 55. Their fourth game was against Yamabuki High and Shutoku made them know just why they were called 'Kings'. Yamabuki were beaten, Shutoku tripling their score.

What was even worse for their opponents, Midorima didn't even play for the entirety of their matches. He only played for the first half but if his luck was bad, he'd only play in the first quarter. Kazunari played for their entire games, showing off just how good of a point guard he can be. After all, playing with RimFire in the summer and on weekends sharpened his skills even further.

For Touou, after they (Aomine) destroyed Jouzen, their next opponent was Kaisei High. Once again, they destroyed them 153 to 46. Their third game had them facing against Nishimachi Gakuen, and with what seemed to be a routine, they tripled their score. Their fourth game was against Joshibi and just like their previous matches, they tripled their score.

It was mostly Aomine who scored the most points, while the others could only either defend, steal or get rebounds. Sakurai had made couple shots as well. Shouichi looked at his team and shook his head. The way they played was a stark contrast to how he played with RimFire.

Like Touou, Rakuzan were just as dominating as Touou whenever they played. Their second game was against Kizu High school; they destroyed them by tripling their score. Kotarou was still peeved from what had happened in the first round against Amino, he decided to ignore Akashi at all cost. Whenever the redhead spoke, he'd tune him out, unless it was a pep talk for their match. Their third match was against Kyoto Prefectural, and strangely, this time, Kotarou had opted not to play. He had feigned an illness, and luckily, it worked out. Their fourth game was against Kyoei Gakuen, and as always there were no surprises. They crushed them, tripling their score.

But apart from this, whenever the boys reached home from their matches, they'd usually eat dinner with Tanaka (the man preparing it for them as according to him _'my boys need all their_ nutrients') and talk to him about their matches. Afterwards, they'd do their homework, after which they'd usually head to the street court to play two-on-twos (since it was during the week, Kotarou wouldn't be there). They had decided to let Tanaka choose the teams, and with a smirk, he decided to mix it. He placed Kazunari and Shouichi on the same team, Yukio and Tetsuya on the other. He had gone to watch their little match, acting as some sort of referee.

When it was Friday evening, Kotarou had come over (like always) and he'd tell them all about Rakuzan and Akashi's behaviour. He complained, to add to it, he used dramatics ― hand gestures, facial expressions, voice mockery and all sorts of things. On Saturday, they'd call Tatsuya and told him about their journey in the Preliminaries. This made the raven haired boy itching to return to Japan.

Over the weekend, they'd visit the street court and play two-on-twos, Kazunari and Kotarou on one team and Yukio and Shouichi on the other. Tetsuya was the only one not on a team, instead, he passed the ball to whichever team he felt like, he stole the ball from whoever he felt like. It was fun, even though neither of the boys knew when they could trust Tetsuya.

Then, it was yet again time for their fifth match of the Preliminaries.

Seirin had just finished beating Shoin High and the team had sat on their bench after the game, rehydrating themselves. Tetsuya kept thinking about how the others were doing, but he remembered that Kazunari was supposed to have a match...he then looked at his clock and saw the time. His match should begin soon. He then looked up and noticed that Shutoku hasn't arrived yet. He then shrugged his shoulders, knowing that with a team such as that, there's no way they'd lose. He was then taken out his thoughts by Furihata,

"We're doing well," the brunet started, "at this rate; we'll easily make it through the preliminaries and all the way to the Championship league."

"How naïve." He heard Izuki say.

"It must be nice being so young and carefree." Koganei added. Mitobe nodded in agreement. He then heard Hyuuga started talking.

"For the last ten years, the same three schools have moved on to the championship league from Tokyo ― King of the East Shutoku, King of the West Senshinkan, and King of the North Seiho." He said. "They're evenly matched so the top team changes every year, but they never let anyone else get better than fourth place. They're the three immobile Kings of Tokyo." He continued, "After our fifth match are the finals and semi-finals. In the finals we'll most likely come up against the King of the East Shutoku that acquired Midorima Shintarou of the Generation of Miracles."

Tetsuya didn't say anything, instead, he nodded his head. After all, he _was_ Midorima's _teammate_ for three years, plus Kazunari talks about him everyday at home, he knows what sort of monster they'd be going up against either way.

"But you guys made it to the championship league last year didn't you?" Kawahara asked,

"Yeah, but we didn't stand a chance." Hyuuga replied.

Tetsuya's eyes widen at that statement. But before he could say anything, he heard a chant resounding in the gym. Looking at the entrance, Seirin saw the team marching in all their orange glory.

The Kings of East Tokyo, Shutoku.

"Looks like they came." Hyuuga started without taking his eyes off them.

""It's better to see something for yourself than to hear about it." Riko said. She then stood up with a smile on her face, "First years, prepare yourselves! You're going to see something amazing today. They're supposed to be even more amazing this year."

Kagami smirked. "I'm gonna go say hi." he then got up and marched over to Shutoku.

"Sure," Hyuuga agreed, however, he was distracted. But when he realized what Kagami had said, he tried to stop the boy, but he was left ignored.

Tetsuya sighed. Having a feeling of what's going to happen between the two, he followed the redhead. But, he wanted to say hi to Kazunari as well.

"Hey, you're Midorima Shintarou aren't you?" the redhead had asked as he walked up to the green-haired shooter.

"Yes but who are you?" he asked holding his lucky item gingerly in his left hand. Behind him, Kazunari laughed. _You know who he is. Why are you so proud?_ He thought.

Kagami then extended his left hand, offering Midorima to shake it.

"You want to shake hands?"

Kagami didn't answer.

Midorima then sighed, and gave Kagami his left hand. He then took out a marker from God knows where and wrote 'Seirin Number 10, Kagami Taiga' in Midorima's palm. The green haired boy was alarmed at the action.

"You look like the kind of guy who'd claim he doesn't remember me even if I'd introduced myself normally." He then continued with a more serious look, "I want the guy who I'm about to get revenge on for my seniors to remember me."

"Hmph." Midorima said as he pushed up his glasses. "Revenge? You're rather reckless aren't you?"

"Huh?"

Kazunari couldn't help it, he bust with laughter and made his way to Tetsuya. He then threw an arm around Tetsuya's shoulder and looked at Midorima with a grin. "It seems like you've got the ace's number, Shin-chan. Good going," he winked teasingly at him.

"Takao!" he shouted in embarrassment.

"That was a good one Kazunari-kun." Tetsuya chuckled.

"I know right!"

Seeing this exchange, Midorima and Kagami raised an eyebrow.

"Oi, Kuroko," Kagami started. "Do you know this guy?"

"Of course, Kagami-kun." Tetsuya answered. "I live with him."

"He's my dear Tetsu-chan!" Kazunari grinned.

"What?!" the two aces roared.

"You live with Kaijou's captain, now someone from Shutoku?!" Kagami shouted in shock.

"Someone?" Kazunari huffed, pretending to be hurt. "I'm Takao Kazunari, and I'm the point guard for this illustrious team!"

Midorima stood there gaping at the two boys. He would have never in his wildest dreams thought that Kazunari and Tetsuya would know each other in such a way. In comparison to Tetsuya's mature behaviour and way of thinking, he found it hard to see how they get along with each other. He, himself, found Kazunari's imbecilic behaviour quite repulsive. He was taken back to reality when he heard Kazunari calling him.

"Shin-chan! Earth to Shin-chan!"

"What?" he snapped.

"You were spacing out there." he snickered. Midorima narrowed his eyes at him, he hated how much Kazunari seemed to be enjoying this. And strangely, Tetsuya seemed to be enjoying this as well. The two boys then moved off from the aces, seeming to be engaged in a conversation. Kagami and the rest of Seirin could only look on with surprise. Even though the rest of them hadn't heard their conversation with the aces, they were starting to wonder the reason behind those two being so friendly.

Kagami had then retreated back to the bench, all the while looking at the two boys who were chatting away.

"Kagami-kun," Riko started. "Who's that Kuroko-kun's talking to?"

"Oh, him. Not only is he Shutoku's point guard, he lives with Kuroko as well." Kagami responded. "He even calls him 'Tetsu-chan'."

"Ehh?!" came the unison screech.

"He lives with Shutoku's point guard as well?! What's going on?!" Izuki said. "Man, Kuroko sure has some skilled players living with."

"Yeah, Kaijou's captain and point guard, and now Shutoku's." Hyuuga said in amazement. "Who's next?" he added jokingly.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he lived with another school's ace as well." Koganei said with a shrug. "In a dormitory, it is possible."

"How long are you going to keep talking?!" a loud gruff voice said, gaining their attention. It was the captain of Shutoku, Otsubo Taisuke. "Get ready!"

"Okay!" Kazunari said. "See you in the finals Tetsu-chan!"

"Sure! I'll even cheer you up when you lose!" he chuckled.

"Are you sure it be the other way around?"

"We'll just wait and see."

Before Midorima could reach his bench, he then looked at Tetsuya and addressed him. "Kuroko, I will show you just how naïve your thinking is."

Kazunari heard the exchange and shook his head. _If only you knew, Shin-chan_ _._

While Shutoku got ready, Seirin had retreated up to the stands to watch their match. When both teams were ready, they had lined up at the centre, and bowed to each other as is customary. The referee then threw the ball up in the air for the tip-off, Otsubo and Kinga's centre faced off for it.

_xxxx_

Shutoku was on thirty-eight while Kinga was at eight. So far, it was a one-sided match, Shutoku dominating completely. Midorima made threes as much as he had gotten the ball, which, sadly for Kinga, was often.

"They're already thirty points ahead with four minutes remaining in the second quarter." Riko started, "I'm not surprised." Kagami 'hmph'ed at her statement.

"They're not doing anything that differently from us, but they make it look so easy." Kawahara said. "I wonder why?"

"It's because they don't make mistakes." Hyuuga began, "In basketball, the ball's always moving back and forth at high speeds. Without exception, strong schools always have solid basics like passing, handling and running." He then continued, "they make it look easy because they're fundamentals are so solid. But those are only the fundamentals. Naturally, there's another reason. It's because they have an infallible scorer."

"What an amazing dunk!" Kawahara said after seeing Otsubo.

"Is he really a high schooler?" Furihata said in awe.

"He's gotten even stronger." Riko said to Hyuuga.

"We couldn't do anything about him last year." He said.

"Otsubo on the inside and a normal outside was Shutoku's game last year but this year…" she trailed off.

"He's five out of five so far." Kagami said, looking at Midorima. "Looks like Midorima's playing well."

"Is that so?" Tetsuya said.

"I don't know! Shouldn't you know?"

"For one Midorima-kun doesn't miss," Tetsuya said. And that moment, Midorima took a shot. The ball arched high into the air and all Seirin's eyes were drawn to it.

_Seriously? What's with that high arc?_ Hyuuga thought. _Most people won't have any sense of distance shooting like that._

The ball went into the net flawlessly.

"As long as Midorima-kun doesn't lose his form, he makes one hundred percent of his shots."

"Seriously?" Izuki asked.

"That's not fair." Koganei added.

"He's even heading back to defend before he makes his shot." Tsuchida said. "He's impossible to counter." Mitobe nodded in agreement.

"The time until he makes his shot is abnormally long. It really gets you mentally." Riko added.

_He really is amazing, but why am I getting a bad feeling about this?_ Hyuuga thought, _Could Midorima be hiding something even more ridiculous?_

Tetsuya then sighed. "It gets even worse. In middle school, he could shoot from the centre line."

"What?" Kagami shouted. "Shooting from the centre line in middle school? Just what is he?"

"You Generation of Miracles are something else." Izuki said. "Shooting threes from the centre line in middle school, I've never heard or seen anyone do that before."

"Well, they're monsters." Tetsuya said. "Simple as that."

They then refocused on the match, watching it intently.

_xxxx_

"Okay, let's go home!" Hyuuga said to the team as they opened the door.

"Don't!" Riko shouted as she pushed them. "We've got another game today! Are you stupid? Are you?!"

"I was kidding. The mood just seemed too gloomy." Hyuuga said with something looking like a smile.

"Everyone's checked the tournament bracket." Izuki joined in.

"Huh? We've got another game? Seriously?" Kagami asked.

"Kagami…" Tsuchida started,

"You really are stupid Kagami!" Riko shouted. "Check the bracket! We play two games on the day of our fourth game and the last day! Our fifth game starts at five o'clock!" Kagami then took the paper from Riko.

"Two games in one day is really too much." Koganei said.

"Yeah, even if we get a break, we're still tired." Izuki said.

"The semi-finals and finals are both in one day?" Kagami asked. "Does that mean we're playing a game before we play Shutoku?" he then noticed something on the paper, "Coach, the three kings are Shutoku and…?"

"Seiho and Senshinkan." She answered.

"Isn't this…?"

"On our last day, our opponent will most likely be Seiho. We'll play Shutoku in the finals. We're playing two Kings in a row."

"That's impossible." Furihata said.

"Good schools have strong players and a lot of them." Kawahara said. "Our guys will all need to be benched."

"Ha! Two games in one day and both our opponents are strong. I couldn't ask for more." Kagami grinned.

"But this is too much." Furihata said.

"Who are you trying to impress?" Kawahara asked. "Right Kuroko?"

"I'm actually excited too." He deadpanned.

"What? Did you get Kagami germs too?" Furihata asked.

"What are you talking about?" Kagami asked.

"I hope not."

"The way that you denied that pisses me off," he hissed at the shorter boy.

"But don't difficult situations light a fire in you?"

The expressions of the Seirin team indicated that he had just hit the nail on the head.

"All right! I'm on fire! I'm gonna go practice!" Kagami shouted.

"Don't! You should rest!" Riko barked at him. "You unbelievable basketball head! Bakagami!"

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

 

When Tetsuya reached home, he noticed that the house was dead silent. That could mean one of two things ― either no one has arrived yet or they're all sleeping. He then made his way up the stairs and to the rooms, and when he opened his room, he saw that it was empty. _Kazunari-kun's not back yet._ He then moved to the next room across the hallway and knocked. There was no answer, so Tetsuya turned the knob and entered. Once again, it was empty.

He sighed.

If no one's home as yet, then that meant he has the house to himself. He then returned to his room and plopped himself down onto his bed, gazing up at the ceiling. For all their matches so far, Seirin has been progressing quite smoothly. But then, he realized that come the finals, they were going to be in a real pinch. It wasn't that he was belittling Seiho, it was the fact that he knew that Kazunari has a pair of eyes that can be quite dangerous. If he marks him then…

Tetsuya shook his head rid the thought. But he just couldn't shake the feeling that for Seirin's match-up against Shutoku, he'd be rendered powerless. Knowing all the times he's spent playing with Kazunari as a part of RimFire, there are always times when the boy make some ridiculous passes to him without even looking. Tetsuya groaned as he turned on his side. _That match isn't going to be good at all._

_xxxx_

"How was your match Yukio-kun?" Tanaka asked.

"It was alright." The captain replied. They were currently heading home, Tanaka picked up Yukio from his match, due to him being in the area. The man was also a little bit sad that he didn't get to see Yukio's match, hell, he was sad that he hadn't gotten a chance to see any of his boys' matches. He sighed deeply, and Yukio didn't miss this. With a raised eyebrow, he then asked,

"What's wrong Tanaka-san?"

"I'm just a bit sad that I haven't been able to see any of your matches." he confessed. "It's kind of disheartening."

Yukio laughed. "Well, you're in luck. We were all planning on watching Tetsuya and Kazunari's matches next Saturday."

"They're playing each other?"

"Yeah, but it'll be in the finals, though. Before that, they both have the semi-finals to play in."

"So, the finals and semi-finals are on the same day?"

"Sadly. And what's worse, for Tetsuya's team, they'll be playing Seiho before Shutoku. In essence, they'll be playing two kings in a row."

"Ouch, that's rough." Tanaka sighed. "I've seen some of Seiho's matches in the past, and I must say, they're going to be a hard nut to crack."

"I know."

They then changed their topic from basketball to other things spanning different topics. Within couple minutes, Tanaka was pulling up into the driveway. After he had securely parked the car, he and Yukio exited, heading into the house. However, they both realized how quiet it was. Both males knew the reason for such peace. The others weren't home as yet. After his match, Yukio had messaged Shouichi, the bespectacled teen had replied that his match hadn't started yet and won't be for another five minutes. With Kotarou, he had already knew that the boy won't make it until later on, as he has to catch the train. The only persons that should be home, would be Kazunari and Tetsuya, they had their matches earlier on in the day.

While Tanaka headed into the kitchen, Yukio went upstairs to get changed. He saw that Tetsuya and Kazunari's room door was open, so with a peek, he checked to see which one of the boys (or both) were home. He saw only one.

Tetsuya.

He was sleeping with his back turned in his direction, and Yukio could only manage a smile. _Of course he'd be tired._ For a school like Tetsuya's, that much is expected, as even though they had the potential, they don't have the right means to fully draw them out. It wasn't that he was looking down on them, far from it. He then went to his room for his change of clothing and headed towards the shower.

Then one by one, everyone strolled in, faces looking tired, bodies aching all over. Kazunari was the one who faced the blunt of it all, as he had to bring Midorima home in the ricksaw. He felt like come tomorrow, he won't be able to move his lower body. He was actually the last to arrive, the look on his face nearly giving Tanaka a heart attack.

When it was dinnertime, the boys had assembled around the table, and since it was a Friday, Kotarou was present. They had all ate, and laughed and joked; but the centre of the conversation was always basketball. They talked about their matches, and the ones that they'll eventually have. All eyes then landed on Tetsuya, as he had the semi-finals and finals on the same day both against kings. Kazunari was fine, as his team had strong bench players and regulars, so there's no need for them to fret. Plus, Shutoku's opponent is a simple middle-tier team.

"Come Friday, I'll be exhausted after the matches." Tetsuya sighed.

"Don't worry, Tetsu!" Kotarou perked. "We'll all be cheering you on!"

"So, no one will cheer for me?" Kazunari pouted.

"Of course," the blond chuckled. "I meant Seirin's match against Seiho. Of course I'll cheer for you, Kazu. You'll always be my number one!" he said as he slung an arm around his shoulder.

"That said, who do you think will win the finals?" Tanaka then asked.

The boys fell silent. They looked at each other, hoping that the other would say something first. When he could take no more of it, Yukio then spoke,

"I have no idea." he started. "Seirin has a lot of potential, but Shutoku this year is fierce. Plus, they have Midorima." he then looked at Tetsuya. "But Seirin has Tetsuya, when he gets the ball rolling, he can be quite dangerous."

"Aren't you forgetting that Shutoku has Kazu?" Kotarou joined in. "He can spot Tetsu from a while away. I doubt that Tetsu will be able to roam free on the court."

"Well, that all depends on the coach's plan." Kazunari said. "But I'm pretty sure that Shin-chan is going to tell coach about Tetsu-chan though."

"Oh well," Tetsuya smirked. "It doesn't matter who's on Shutoku's team. We will be the victors anyway."

"Hoh? You're on Tetsu-chan!"

"That match is going to be quite interesting." Shouichi chuckled.

_xxxx_

The new school week began, the many different schools were all in high gear for the semi-finals and finals of the Inter-High Preliminaries. On Tuesday, both Yukio and Shouichi had their matches at the same time, and of course, the two schools made it through. Over by Kyoto, on Wednesday, Rakuzan once more dominated the court, crushing their opponents solidly. Thursday seen the other blocks in Tokyo, but no one cared about those. Everyone was itching to see the matches on Friday, the finals of Tokyo Block C match. Many wanted to see the match-up between the two kings ― Seiho and Shutoku, they totally overlooked Seirin. Well, most of the people didn't even knew that they existed.

But, for RimFire, they wanted to see the match-up between Seirin and Shutoku...more so, Kazunari against Tetsuya. They had been quite disappointed the last time, since neither of them got a chance to watch the practice between Seirin and Kaijou. But this time, they made it their mission (with the help of Tanaka) to make it to the venue on time.

At Seirin, the basketball club was sitting in their clubroom watching videos of Seiho's matches. The entire room was in silence, the Senpai seeming to be brooding. Tetsuya would not have missed this, as he remembered what Shouichi and Yukio told him about what happened last year. The video then stopped and then Izuki spoke,

"We already knew it would be," he started. "But this is going to be tough."

"Sorry, but I feel like crying again." Koganei said in a soft voice.

"Frankly, we'd lose nine of ten times against Seiho and Shutoku." Riko joined in. "We just have to bring that one win to our games."

In that moment, Tetsuya stood up. The other raised their eyebrows at this action. "Ano," Tetsuya started. "I got some information about Seiho. I think it might be helpful." He then handed his notepad to Riko, who read the contents. She made a 'hmm' sound and as she skipped the page, her eyes widened.

"Where did you get this from?!"

"Yukio-kun and Shouichi-kun." He deadpanned. "They've played Seiho before, so they know what they are like and what they tend to do." Over the weekend, Shouichi and Yukio had given him some information about Seiho from when they had played them.

"I know 'Yukio' is Kaijou's captain, but who is 'Shouichi'?" Kagami asked. "How do you even know so much people?"

Tetsuya smirked. "He's Touou's captain."

"Ehh?!" they screeched.

"What position does he play?" Hyuuga then asked. "Does he live with you too?!"

"Yes. He's a point guard but he can also be a shooting guard. Why?"

"Oh damn, Kuroko." Furihata said. "You live with three point guards?!"

"Don't forget that one of them can be a shooting guard." Fukuda added.

"Enough!" Riko said to take them out of their stupor. Well, she was shocked as well but she recovered quick enough. "Fufufu, with this information, we'll be able to repay Seiho the debt owed." she crackled. Seeing the look on her face, the boys were just now beginning to wonder just what kind of coach did they have.

_xxxx_

On the day of the matches, Yukio and Kise were standing outside Kaijou's compound waiting on Tanaka. Kise was the one who had asked Yukio to accompany him to watch Tetsuya's match, and luckily for the blond, Yukio had already planned to attend. It was even more surprising for the blond when Yukio had told him to meet him at the school gates as their driver will be coming to pick them up. When Yukio had told him that, Kise thought that he was the type to get picked up and dropped off at school in a fancy car.

Just then, they saw a silver car swinging from around the bend, and judging by the driving, Yukio paled. The car was coming at them at a frightening speed which shouldn't be within a school zone. Kise blanched when he saw it and prayed that that isn't the vehicle they're supposed to enter.

"Don't tell me..." Kise heard Yukio say aloud. His facial expression looked as though he was in agony. "... _he's_ driving?"

Lo and behold, it stopped precisely at their feet, and Kise looked like he was about to faint. From the way he had seen the car moving towards them, he knew that this was not going to be a pleasant ride to see the match. Kise could feel it in the pits of his stomach that he was in for a wild ride.

"Hop in Yuki." Shouichi said as he wind down the window. Tanaka was in the seat next to him, looking at bit exhausted, Kotarou was in the back, looking like a ball of sunshine. But then, the man exited from the car, and indicated to Yukio that he should take his seat while he went around to the back. He then swiftly entered the same time that Kise did. Thus, it was Tanaka and Kise at the ends with Kotarou in the middle. However, Yukio had gone on the other side of the car, and took the seat that Tanaka was previously in. The moment Yukio was properly seated and fixed his seat-belt, he attacked the bespectacled teen.

"Why are you driving!?" he had barked. "Tanaka-san, this is a very important day for Tetsuya and Kazunari! We can't get arrested because of his horrible driving!"

"Maa, calm down Yuki." Shouichi drawled. "My glasses had shifted a while there because of the heavy breeze."

"Breeze isn't so strong to shift your glasses!" Yukio countered. He then gasped in horror, "Just how fast were you driving?!"

"A little over the speed limit." Kotarou replied with a playful grin from the back.

"A little?!" Yukio screeched. And thus, Yukio and Shouichi started their banter for a couple of minutes before driving off.

All while this was going on, Kise sat in the seat, looking at them in shock. This was the first time that he's seen his captain behave in such a way, but what was even more surprising was the fact that this was someone from another school. Kise had never seen him before, nor had he ever heard his captain talk about him. Hell, Yukio doesn't talk about anyone unless asked...which was never. He was then taken out of his thoughts by a chuckle coming from beside him.

"Mom, Dad," Kotarou started, "I really don't want to be late for my brothers' matches." After he said that, he erupted into full-blown laughter.

"Who're you calling Mom, Kotarou?!" Yukio barked. "Don't make me come around there!"

"Sorry, Sorry," he said playfully.

"Yukio-kun, don't worry, we'll reach the venue in no time." Tanaka soothed. He knew what was going to happen if he didn't try to change the topic.

"We won't! With this maniac driving, the police will surely stop us! And you'll have tickets to pay for!" Yukio huffed. "Plus, I doubt that we'll even reach there alive and in one piece."

"Of course we will. Shouichi-kun is an exceptional driver." Tanaka looked as though he was sparkling. "After all, you two were taught by yours truly."

Kise felt out of place. The way the four interacted with each other, Kise felt as though he shouldn't be there. He shrank in his seat and simply watched them half in amusement half in surprise. Every time either talked, the blond would fix his gaze on them, but he never said anything. But, what Kotarou said, he'll forever remember this. He wanted to laugh, but he forced it down.

"Fix your face, Kise." he then heard Yukio said to him. "And this is my best friend, Imayoshi Shouichi. You'll get to see how much of an ass he is on the court eventually. And beside you is one of my little brothers Hayama Kotarou."

"Nice to finally meet you, Kise-kun." Shouichi said. "Yuki talks about you everyday whenever he gets home." He added.

"Shou!" Yukio shouted, seeming a bit embarrassed. "If you don't stop, I'll punch you."

At that moment, Kise laughed out loud, as that was the Yukio that he was used to. Except for him, he'd always receive kicks. "I thought you only kicked people, Senpai." he chuckled.

"Of course not," Yukio replied swiftly. "My kicks are reserved for you, my punches for Shou."

Kise paled at that statement.

"Don't worry, Kise. Those kicks are filled with nothing but love." Shouichi joked.

In that moment, Yukio had grabbed Shouichi's jaws with an unbelievable grip, his face darkening a bit. "Shut up and drive."

Seeing this, Kise swore to himself, that he'll try his best to stay on his captain's good side. Beside him, Kotarou was roaring with laughter, Tanaka hummed as though nothing was going on.

_xxxx_

Inside the gymnasium, four teams could be seen warming up on two separate courts; Shutoku with their opponents on the left court, with Seirin and Seiho on the right. Both courts were devoid of chatter, only the sounds of sneakers squeaking and the ball bouncing could be heard.

Across from them by the bench, Furihata was standing beside Riko, the two were looking at Seiho's team.

"Seiho seems more normal than I expected. They don't have any really big guys." Furihata said.

"I suppose they are small for a national class team." Riko responded. "They're biggest player is their captain, Iwamura-kun."

"Is he as tall as Mitobe-senpai?" he asked. "He's pretty wide...and so thick! He seems powerful!"

"Fufu, it doesn't matter." she smirked. "They're in for a nasty surprise."

Kagami had then dribbled to the net and made a dunk. He was on fire, upon seeing that they have two matches against two kings on the same day. Especially that for the final match, he'll be facing Midorima of the Generation of the Miracles. In his train of thoughts, he then looked across to the sharpshooter who held a ball in his hands. Seeming to feel someone's eyes on him, Midorima looked in Kagami's direction, causing their eyes to meet.

"You're looking at the wrong team, idiot!" Hyuuga said. He then held Kagami's head and forcibly turned him in the direction of Seiho.

"I was just looking at him." Kagami replied. "I'm still focused on our game against Seiho." _Who are these guys? They seem good, but they're completely different from Shutoku._

"You're Kagami-kun aren't you?" he stopped when he heard someone call his name. He turned around to see a bald haired player with a smile on his face. "Your hair's so red! Scary!"

"What?!"

The boy then turned in the direction of Seiho, calling out to another player. "Captain, this is the guy right? Seirin's really weak but they have one strong guy." The Seirin players who were nearby felt something within them snap. But, they didn't retaliate. The other player who the bald headed boy had called out to then made his way to them. He then knocked him on the head.

"Ow!"

"Quit messing around you idiot." the captain ― Iwamura ― said sternly. He then looked at Seirin. "Sorry about that. Tsugawa here can't read situations so he just says what he's thinking."

"You don't need to apologize." Hyuuga said. "We're going to win. If you look down on us like you did last year, you'll end up in tears."

"That won't happen." Iwamura said. "Besides we weren't looking down on you. You were just weak that's all."

"What? Captain, you're not mincing words either." Tsugawa said as they were walking back.

"Idiot, I just don't sugar-coat my words." He answered. By now, everyone in Seirin was seething with rage.

After a couple more minutes of the warm up, both teams headed back to their locker rooms to get dressed. Inside of Seirin's, there was an eerie silence, which would be strange for this noisy team. Almost everyone had their eyes downcast, and none spoke to anyone.

 _Everyone's a little tense,_ Riko thought. She then clapped her hands to gain their attention. "You're all a little too uptight! I thought of a reward to cheer you up." She then placed a hand on her lips with a sly smile. "If you win your next game, I'll give each of you a kiss on the cheek. What do you say?"

"Why did she laugh?" Izuki said, unfazed.

"You can't be serious." Koganei said.

"You idiots! Pretend to be happy if you have to!"

Hearing those comments. Riko ended being even gloomier than her boys.

But after a few seconds, she came back on her feet and shouted, "Shut up and get it together, you idiots! Don't you want to pay them back for last year? It's got to be quite a lot with a year's worth of interest!"

"Sorry, sorry. We know." Hyuuga said. "All right before we start, I'll tell you again." He said as he turned to the first years, "I'm sure you'll feel it as the game starts, but first years, prepare yourselves for the worst. Seiho is strong. After last year's massive defeat, we hated basketball so much that we nearly quit." but when he saw their faces, he had to reassure them. "Don't be so gloomy! We got over it, we're better now. If anything we're happy. This won't be the same as last year. I'm confident we've become strong enough to be sure of that. Now we just have to win let's go!"

"Yeah!" they chorused.

While they were heading back to the court, Tetsuya thought about what Hyuuga had said in the locker room. He could sympathize. In his final year of Teikou, he too, had hated basketball...and hating the thing that he loved the most was painful. Catching the look on his shadow's face, Kagami then asked,

"Is something wrong?"

"Kagami-kun," Tetsuya started. "Have you ever hated basketball?"

"What? No I haven't."

"Oh. I think both this game and the one against Shutoku is important for our seniors to get over the past." he trailed off, "We have to win."

"Of course."

They then caught up with the rest of the team, and headed out onto the court.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

When Seirin had made it to the court, Seiho was already starting to change into their jerseys. Tetsuya looked at them, more so, his eyes landed on Tsugawa. Back in middle school, he had managed to stop Kise, so more than likely, he'll be marking Kagami. However, a small smile graced his face, as the plans that his team had come up with would definitely have Seiho gasping for air. When his eyes then landed on his fellow teammates, especially Kagami, he noticed that they had grins of joy. The Senpai were all itching to dish out their payback, Kagami, being his usual self was eager to get this match over with so that he could face Midorima. Tetsuya shook his head with amusement.

After they had finished changing into their jerseys, they then marched out onto the court with an air of determination and fierceness. However, one thing was on all their minds...dethroning the King of the North, Seiho.

_xxxx_

Under the afternoon sun, two boys walked leisurely down the street. They both had a Popsicle in their hands, the boy on the inside had a strawberry flavoured, while the boy on the outside had blueberry. The two chatted as the went along, after all, they were heading home from school. Then, suddenly, the boy on the inside's phone rang. When he opened the message, his eyes widened with amazement.

"Hey, Shige," the boy started, his dark eyes sparkled with fun. His black hair swayed in the breeze that blew.

"Hmm? What's up Mochida?" Shige drawled as he bit down on his Popsicle. He had brown hair and matching eyes.

"Wanna go watch the Inter-High Preliminaries?" Mochida asked.

"I'm not ―" he stopped abruptly. "Where'd that come from anyway?"

"This message." Mochida shoved the phone into Shige's face. When Shige read the message, he too was stunned. In it, there was a picture of the scoreboard, reading Seiho – 12, Seirin – 08. "It'll be awesome to watch wouldn't it? Plus, I'd definitely love to see the match between Seiho and Shutoku! This year, Shutoku got their hands on Midorima Shintarou, the super shooter!" his eyes were basically dancing with excitement. "Imagine that! A tough defensive team versus an offensive team!"

Shige smiled. "I guess it would be quite interesting. But judging by that picture, that Seirin team could be disastrous in the last quarter."

"Right?" Mochida smirked. He then looked at his watch and made a gasp. He then grabbed Shige's wrist, pulling him with earnest. After all, the semi-finals had already started and they wanted to reach before that match ended.

"I can walk by myself, you know!" Shige protested.

"But you aren't walking fast enough!" Mochida retorted. "We have a train to catch!"

_xxxx_

"This is all your fault, Shou!" Yukio yelled at Touou's captain.

"How was I supposed to know that there was a patrol car there?" Shouichi countered. "You should have been my eyes, Yuki." Along the way, they had encountered some police and due to Shouichi's need for speed, they were ticketed. Tanaka, of course, had smoothed over the matter the law enforcers, simply stating that he was learning to drive.

"Calm down, you two." Tanaka said with an exhausted drawl, "We aren't even that late."

"But, I wanted to see the match from the start." Kotarou joined in. "So Tetsu and Kazu know that we're here cheering for them."

"Won't they think that it's emba―?" Kise broke off as he interrupted by the four.

"Of course not!" they shouted at him, seeming as though they knew what he wanted to say. Kise jumped from the fright.

"Do you know how empowering it is when you're against all odds but you hear someone cheering for you?" Tanaka said. "Whenever you hear that cheer, power from unknown origins overflows from your body and suddenly you're able to move a mountain!"

"That's the importance of support!" Kotarou added.

"Alright, I understand." Kise swiftly said. But in reality he was stunned at their words. He then looked at his captain, and wondered if in Inter-High they were going to come 'cheer' for them as well. Kise shuddered. He's had his own experiences with his family, and for days, Aomine had teased him about it. They had then entered the gymnasium, and the roaring sounds made them start running towards the seats. Upon entering, the first thing that they noticed were the points.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Kotarou hooted as they made their way to seats, all the while not taking their eyes off the court. Kise himself was shocked. Not that he had underestimated Seirin, but the fact that they were facing a defense specialist, he'd thought that they would have been behind by more points.

Seiho was on twelve points, Seirin on ten.

Just then, when they were all comfortably seated, they saw Kagami with the ball, attempting to pass Tsugawa. He made a shift to his right Tsugawa's block was perfect. However, the moment that happened, they saw Kagami then bounce passed the ball to the left into a presumably open space. What happened next, was so fast that the audience were stunned into silence.

The moment the ball had left the ground, Tetsuya redirected it to the net where Mitobe had jumped. It landed squarely into the centre's palm and he slammed it into the net thus making the two teams tie on twelve points.

Kise's eyes bulged at the sight. This was something that he'd never seen Tetsuya do in Teikou. He'd normally receive direct passes, not ones that bounced off the floor. But even so, that was one awesome pass. It made Kise feel like regretting not going to Seirin with him, as he was always mesmerized by the boy's passing style.

The three boys and one man hooted and cheered, Kise chuckled within himself, as there's no way Kurokocchi wouldn't be able to hear them.

"Crush them Tetsuya!" Yukio and Shouichi cheered. However, their tone of voice sent chills down Kise's spine. It was as though the two were ordering the boy to commit murder.

"Steal those balls, Tetsu!" Kotarou screamed. Kise sighed in relief at this, at least Kotarou's voice sounded normal.

"Show no mercy!" Tanaka shouted.

Looking at them, Kise saw that they were way too into this. The three boys had a look to their faces which made Kise feel sorry for Seiho. Whatever was happening, he knew that these boys must've given Tetsuya some form of tips on how to handle the King of the North. He then felt a nudge in his side. Tanaka gestured for him to say something as well. Kotarou then looked at him with eyes that seemed to be begging, Yukio's face was threatening, while Shouichi had on a grin made him feel like if he didn't do it, he'll be tortured horribly. Throwing away his pride, and wanting to save his life, he then placed his hands at the sides of his mouth and shouted,

"G-G-Go for it, Seirin!" he ended up stuttering.

"That's the spirit." Tanaka smiled at him, patting him on his back. "But you need to loosen up a little. Stuttering won't get the message across." Kise, on the other hand, wanted to die.

_xxxx_

On the court, Seirin had regrouped but when they heard the cheers, all eyes then turned towards the direction. Tetsuya had recognized the voices and Kotarou and Kise's brightly coloured hairs and couldn't help but smile. He already knew that they were coming to watch, since neither of them had any matches today. It was then that Kagami and the others came up to him.

"Oi Kuroko," the redhead started. "What is that?" he pointed a thumb in Tetsuya's housemates direction.

Tetsuya replied with nonchalance, "My devoted cheerleaders are here."

"Cheerleaders?" Hyuuga asked.

"Yes, they're here to empower me."

"Ah, your cheerleaders are so cheerful." Izuki punned.

"Die!" Hyuuga screamed while he karate chopped his point guard.

"Well, since we've got cheerleaders, it only makes sense that we don't disappoint, right?" Kagami smirked.

"Damn right." Hyuuga added.

The match then progressed, but it was clear on the Seiho's players' faces that they weren't too happy with this situation. Not only had they underestimated Seirin, but the offensive team seemed to have realized their weakness. From the off-set of the match, Seirin has been able to break past their defenses, add to that Tetsuya's always invisible so no one of the opposing team ever knew where he was. Seiho's coach was not pleased. Even though they still managed to get some points, it was already just five minutes into the first quarter. They had three whole quarters to go and they were in this kind of mess.

Even Tsugawa, the annoyance was printed on his face. No matter what he tried, he just couldn't hold down Kagami. Prior to the match, when he found out about how Seiho tripled their score last year, he wanted to make a repeat of it. But this…

He was then taken out of his thoughts when he heard Iwamura ordering him and Kasuga retrieved the ball from Omuro. The point guard 'tsk'ed as he looked at Seirin's defense. There were no holes and honestly, Kasuga was peeved. The other Seiho players had then moved into their positions, however, Izuki was not easing up on Kasuga.

 _Man, even though we know their habits, keeping this up is tough!_ Izuki groaned inwardly. Just then, Iwamura had run closer to Kasuga and he made a bounce pass to the captain. He then chest passed it to Omuro, who, quickly made a layup.

"Seiho's not bad. They're still keeping their ground." Kotarou said. "But, how long will they last?" he snickered. "It's just the first quarter and I can tell that they're suffering from Seirin's attacks."

"It's even worse because last year, Seiho had tripled Seirin's score. At looking at their line-up, it's basically the same as last year...only Kagami and Tetsuya are the additions." Shouichi added. "But due to that, Seiho underestimated them and now their ship's sinking."

"Exactly." Tanaka said as he leaned forward. "I think that is why Tetsuya will always have the advantage when he isn't playing one of you." a small smile appeared on his face as he said that. "Other teams will always use Seirin's disastrous past to judge how good they currently are, and thus, end up overlooking important things. In addition, the underestimation will further continue once they realize that they don't have a registered coach, but a fellow student guiding them."

"Who happens to be a female." Yukio added. "Don't forget that part."

"Right, Seirin has got the element of surprise going on for them." Tanaka chuckled. Kise sat there looking at the four, amazed by their ease of conversation. It was even worse at where he was positioned...in between Tanaka and Yukio, Shouichi and Kotarou beside his captain in that order. However, he then refocused on the match just in time to see Kagami once more with the ball in front of Tsugawa. The redhead then glanced behind him briefly before bouncing the ball to the right and dashing off to the left. By the time the boy thundered towards the net, the ball suddenly appeared in his hands and he slammed in the net.

"It seems like Seiho hasn't expected a pass from behind the defense." Kise snickered. "Those two are infuriatingly in tune with each other."

Kise then heard the other four males laugh out. "Kise-kun, you haven't seen anything yet." Tanaka laughed as he placed an arm around the blond's shoulder. "If you see his coordination with Yukio-kun, you'll be saying otherwise."

"Really?"

"For real." Kotarou said. "They're quite dangerous together. It always gets even worse when Kazu decides join." Kise noticed that Kotarou seemed to sparkle with pride.

When it was Seirin's possession, Izuki had passed the ball to Kagami who was being blocked by Tsugawa. The redhead then bounced it through the boy's legs and ran pass in the moment of distraction. Tetsuya was already nearby so the moment Kagami had broken free, he redirected the ball back to him. He made a dunk, with a big grin on his face.

"Yosha!" he shouted with glee. "Let's win this!"

Up in the audience, Tetsuya's housemates were cheering. Somehow, they'd manage to wrap Kise into their antics, the blond subsequently giving up, at least he isn't the only one making a fool of himself...He was then taken out of his thoughts when he heard Kotarou spoke,

"Hmm, Shutoku benched Midorima?"

"Of course they would." Yukio answered. "Their opponent is just a middle-tier school. There should be no surprises."

"The only surprise that this crowd's getting is this match between Seiho and Seirin." Shouichi added. He then looked in Kise's direction. With a smirk, he then asked the blond, "What's wrong Kise-kun? You look quite tense."

"Ah no, I'm fine." he replied quickly. "I was just wondering how you all play basketball together."

"It's simple." Kotarou said. "We play in streetball competitions."

"Streetball, huh."

They then refocused on the match and noticed that Seiho started to pass the ball quickly. The Seirin players hardly had any chance of stealing and intercepting, and in that moment, Iwamura had broken pass Mitobe, and dribbled down the court.

"Mitobe, he's gone!" Hyuuga shouted at his centre. When Mitobe moved to block the captain, he decided to pass to Tsugawa. The bald-headed first year received the ball with ease and dashed down the court. However, Kagami came up to block him and stalled him for a while. In that instance, it forced Tsugawa to pass to the nearest available person which was Omuro. But, it never reached it's destination. Tetsuya had intercepted it, and passed it to Izuki.

The eagle-eyed point guard dribbled down the court towards Seiho's net, and when he was at the centre circle, he passed the ball to Mitobe who then passed to Hyuuga. The captain then did what he does best, he made a flawless three.

_xxxx_

By this time, Mochida and Shige had made their way inside the gymnasium, and secured seats. Seeing Seirin taking charge of the game, Shige watched with amazement at the court. He hadn't known about Seirin, and he figured that more than half of the people present were the same.

"Could you believe this?" Mochida said. "An unknown school is basically pushing back Seiho."

"Yeah, if things go the way they want to, they'll be facing Shutoku." Shige replied as he took a glance at Shutoku's match. He then noticed that they had benched Midorima, he shrugged it off as them saving him for the finals that they had right after.

"Damn, but I'd definitely love to see how Seirin fares against Shutoku, I think Shutoku will emerge the winner, though."

"By the way," Shige said, his tone was clear that he wanted to change the subject. "Why did you ask me to come watch the Preliminaries?"

Mochida smirked. "Well, to be honest, I knew you love basketball, but after the whole thing with Teikou in middle school you stopped. I was hoping that watching these matches would rekindle your love for it."

"It's too late, really."

"It's never too late."

"Plus, ever since that incident, I haven't said a word to Kuroko. I didn't tell him about my transfer, nothing. He even came by to apologize and I...He probably thinks that I hate him."

"I don't think he does." Mochida sighed. "Even though it was brief, I can tell that Kuroko seems like the type of person that's incapable of hating anyone."

"Ah, that's probably true."

"Which high school did Kuroko choose?"

"Are you deaf or something? I haven't spoken to him since middle school. How am I supposed to know?" Shige then shrugged his shoulders. "He'll more than likely go to a strong school, after all he was on Teikou's regulars. There's no way he wouldn't be scouted."

"Hmm," Mochida then refocused on the match. "What do you think about Seirin?"

"I don't know. It's the first I'm seeing them play."

"Their passes don't make any sense though. Just how do they bend the ball like that?"

"Maybe someone is there to ―" Shige broke off as he saw Izuki pass the ball into an open space. But then, it was redirected to Hyuuga who was by the three point line. "―Oh my God!" he then shouted as he rose to his feet. He saw him. That light blue hair that he's known since his childhood days.

"What's up Shige?"

"It's him. It's actually him."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Kuroko. He's playing on Seirin's team."

"Oh, where is he?"

Shige laughed. "It's really hard to keep track of him. But, whenever the ball bends abnormally, that's him."

And so, the match went on for the rest of the quarter with both teams going back and forth. Their defense, especially Seiho's was extremely good but with Tetsuya on the court roaming free, getting the ball around was easy. He worked hand-in-hand with Kagami mostly, but also he got passing assistance from Izuki. Whenever the point guard passed to him, he would tell him who's free before Tetsuya receives the ball. That way, the likelihood of Seirin scoring quickly was high.

But Seiho was not to be forgotten. In most times, even though Seirin's players knew about their flaws, they still managed to put a halt to Seirin's run-gun sometimes. Tsugawa tried his best to keep Kagami still, there was even one point when Kagami had made the mistake of charging in for a dunk…

"No! Don't do it, Kagami!" Hyuuga had shouted when he realized what was going to happen. But sadly, Kagami didn't hear. Tsugawa had fallen to the floor, instantly, the referee blew his whistle.

"Offensive foul! White 10!"

In the audience, Kise groaned aloud. "That idiot! What is he doing?!"

"He should've seen that coming." Tanaka said. "It's the most standard thing in basketball. Whenever a team isn't pressuring the opposing scorer, it's usually a trap."

"Dang, well, luckily for them, it's his first foul." Kotarou said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"But now this will start to grate on his nerves." Shouichi said. "From how Tetsuya talks about him, he seems like quite the impulsive hotheaded type."

"He is." Yukio said. "Trust me, even though I've played him once, I can tell that he's got quite the fiery personality."

They were taken out of their thoughts when they heard the buzzer sounded. They then looked at the scoreboard and grins appeared on their faces. Both teams were tied on nineteen points.

_xxxx_

Both teams had then returned to their benches to rehydrate themselves, Seirin's bench was clearly in a good mood, in opposing to Seiho. Kagami couldn't hide his joy, even though he was a bit pissed about the foul he picked up earlier. His eyes then took a glance over at Shutoku's bench, in that moment, he just happened to see Midorima filing his nails. His eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Kuroko," he called, not taking his eyes off the shooter.

"What is it Kagami-kun?" Tetsuya answered.

"Does Midorima always file his nails like that?"

Tetsuya leaned forward to look at the boy. His lips turned up in a small smile. "Always." he responded. "If his nails aren't in good condition, then he won't shoot."

"That's why he tapes them, huh?"

"Precisely."

"Listen up guys," Riko started. "This game is just getting started. Keep the formation as we discussed and don't be led by their passes. Keep your zone tighter." she then continued, "If you try your opponents like a wuss, they'll take control of the game. Remember to play offensively!" she then turned to look in Kagami and Tetsuya's direction. "You two will be subbed out. Good job in the firs quarter."

"Yeah," Kagami barely answered, it was clear that he was upset.

"Sure, Coach."

Koganei and Tsuchida then changed into their jerseys, and with a sly smile, he looked at the taller. "Let's show them what we can do Tsucchi."

"Of course."

"If things start go badly, I can play!" Kagami said in earnest.

"What are you talking about? Leave this to us."

The buzzer then sounded, and both teams returned to the court. "Second quarter, begin!"

The players made their way onto the court, consequently, Hyuuga ended up close to Tsugawa. The bald-headed first year then noticed that both Kagami and Tetsuya were gone and was torn between relief and disappointment. However, he chose to feel the latter.

"Oh? They're both gone? It's a little disappointing, but whatever." he shrugged.

Hearing his remarks, Hyuuga spoke up, "Quit running your mouth, you braggart." he hissed in a cold voice.

"Braggart?" Tsugawa asked as he stepped back in fright.

"I'm going to teach you how to respect your seniors, baldy." sadly for Seiho, Hyuuga had just entered clutch mode. As for Tsugawa, Hyuuga's expression left his scared, but before he could say anything, he swallowed the lump in his throat.

The game started with Izuki dribbling into a preferred position, but that was when he noticed that Kasuga was closer to him that prior. He then looked around and found that it was the case with everyone. _Tokyo's best defense is finally running at full power, huh._ He thought. But, the point guard didn't let that bother him. He then passed the ball to Tsuchida, who was being marked by Tsugawa. The older boy then made a right to left crossover, but in that instant, he made a bounce pass to Koganei who had just run pass.

The cat faced forward then made a couple dribbles down court, and when he was in a favourable position, he made a pass to Hyuuga who was free. The captain, always reliable, made his three flawlessly.

Kotarou groaned out loud. "They benched Tetsu."

"Yeah, that had to happen." Yukio responded. "They'll need his strength for Shutoku."

"Well," Tanaka started as he looked across to Shutoku's court. "Kazunari-kun's playing quite well." In that instant, all their attention went to Shutoku's match.

"Go Kazu!" Kotarou then shouted as spotted his best friend dribbling the ball. "Cut through that defense!"

On the court, when Kazunari had heard Kotarou's voice, a smile appeared on his face, and did just that. With a smooth crossover, he passed his defender and when he made it to the free throw area, he once more evaded Kinga's defense. He then made a chest pass to Miyaji who then proceeded to make a layup.

"Good job, Kazu!"

"Nice, Kazunari!" Yukio shouted.

"Murder them, Kazunari!" Shouichi yelled.

Below, Kazunari made a thumb's up in their direction, making them cheer more. Tanaka only shook his head at their antics. He then looked at Kise, and saw that the blond was surprisingly pale with embarrassment. He almost laughed out loud, Kise's face was too hilarious. _Well, boys will be boys._

After that, they decided to ignore the Seirin versus Seiho match, since Tetsuya wasn't playing. Even Kise, even though he had wanted to watch that match, got roped into their antics and ended up cheering for someone that he didn't even know.

However, the Shutoku versus Kinga match was pretty one-sided, with Kazunari's hawk-eyes, he was able to make a lot crazy passes and avoid defenders; Miyaji did a good job in working with the point guard and Kimura, Otsubo defending his net quite spectacularly. The guy who was subbed in for Midorima made his threes as well, though they aren't as smooth as the green-haired boy.

They continued to watch that match until they heard the crowd rouse up. Without even a word to each other, they diverted their attention back to Seirin match just in time to see the Senpai of Seirin taking charge of the match. Their play was much more refined than when Kagami and Kuroko were playing and it was then that Yukio realized something.

"They're going harder at it than I expected." Kise said. This is the first time that he's seen only the Senpai of Seirin play together. Even in their practice match, Kagami played for the entirety.

"This seems to be working a lot better." Yukio replied. "They formed at team around Kagami and Kuroko this spring, in other words, it's still developing. Hyuuga's outside shots and Mitobe's hook shots. The offensive team revolving around those two they're playing right now is the other set-up Seirin spent a year creating."

"Well, more than likely they've been practicing hard since last year's defeat." Shouichi joined in. "Another thing, their key player doesn't stand out much so he'll always be able to make good plays."

"Key player? It isn't their captain?" Kise asked.

"No, Hyuuga's their mental core, he leaves all the plays to Izuki." Yukio then smirked. "He has another pair of eyes."

"Eye?"

Kotarou sighed. "Well, judging by his plays I've seen, I would call it the 'eagle eye'. With it, he can change the point of view instantaneously inside of his head. Because he sees everything from all angles, he's likely to see the entire court. But..."

"But what?"

"When they meet Shutoku, not only will Tetsu have a problem with Kazu, but Izuki as well." Kotarou answered. "After all, Kazu and Izuki's abilities are similar, the only difference is that with Kazu's eyes, he sees _everything,_ they aren't called the 'hawk-eyes' for nothing."

They looked back to match to see Izuki dribbling the ball with his index finger raised. "Ippon! Let's be careful." Shouichi, Tanaka and Kotarou said. The three then roared with laughter, leaving Kise and Yukio bewildered.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"It's just that that pose is a nasty habit for point guards." Kotarou laughed.

"Once a point guard raises his index while dribbling the ball, that's what they usually say." Tanaka chuckled.

"You're no different, Yuki." Shouichi snickered while holding his abdomen. "That's a trait ingrained within you." he couldn't hold it back much longer, so ended roaring with laughter.

"For real! There hasn't been a single match that Yukio hasn't said that!" Kotarou guffawed.

Yukio twitched. "I suggest that you stop if you know what's good for you."

Immediately, the two boys stopped. It was then that Kise started chuckling, he found that their interactions were quite funny. Sometimes, they reminded him of when he was growing up and usually tease his older sisters and vice-versa.

They looked back at the match in time to see Izuki passing the ball to Hyuuga who had just ran past him and Kasuga. Izuki then broke away from Kasuga and headed towards their net, but crossed paths with Koganei, thus making their defenders collide. When he saw that Izuki was free, Hyuuga then bounced the ball to him and he made a shot.

"Damn it, I was on his right side." Omuro panted, holding onto his shoulder.

"But he used me as a screen," number seven added. "shit,"

Looking on, Kasuga had to wonder what just happened. _It happened so fast. You'd never noticed unless you're watching from above._

The games for both teams progressed, hardly anyone looking at Shutoku's match due to two reasons; one: it was clear that Shutoku had the better players and so they had the upper hand in the match, and two: Midorima Shintarou isn't playing; three: the Seirin versus Seiho match was more unpredictable and exciting as at the rate at which both teams were going, no one knew who was going to win.

And so, back and forth the teams went, Seirin's run-gun style was proving to be a bad-match for Seiho. Tanaka and the rest couldn't help but grin when they saw what was happening...Seirin was actually forcing Seiho to play offensively instead defending as they would normally.

Shouichi laughed evilly at their misfortune, Yukio nodded as though he knew what Seirin had planned and was executing it perfectly, Kotarou looked like a ball of sunshine. Kise looked a bit saddened as he wanted to see his Kurokocchi in action. And judging the circumstance, he may not re-enter the match.

But Seiho was really a 'King'. They kept up their tight defenses whenever they could, and without Tetsuya to steal the balls and get them around through unexpected methods, there were times when Seirin's balls were intercepted.

Iwamura made use of his bigger body against Mitobe, even though there are times when Mitobe scored against Iwamura. Kasuga and Izuki always at each other's throats, Hyuuga's clutch mode took him over completely as the captain never missed a shot. Tsuchida and Koganei worked well with each other.

Tsugawa kept his defense got against Tsuchida sometimes, but because they were analyzed, the older boy could get passed him.

The second quarter ended, Seiho on 36 points, Seirin on 34.

_xxxx_

"Wow, Seirin isn't bad at all." Shige said in awe. "They're only behind by a basket."

"Yeah," Mochida agreed. "And they had even benched their scorer."

"Seirin is awesome!" they heard someone exclaimed from behind them.

"Even though the kings tripled their score last year, they've come back with a vengeance this year!"

Hearing that sentence, something struck within Ogiwara. It brought back memories of what happened in middle school with Teikou. Because of that, he had hated basketball, he stopped practicing, stopped watching games, stopped everything relating to basketball. But Seirin...he saw that they had been in a similar shoes to him last year. Got crushed by an overwhelmingly stronger team, but the difference between them and him was that they came back. To settle things. To get revenge.

"Maybe that's what I should've done too." He said to himself. "Maybe if I had kept in contact with Kuroko..." he trailed off when his eyes landed on the teams exiting the court for the break. "...maybe I would have been there with him."

Over by the other side, Tanaka had left the boys to get them something some refreshments. He knew that cheering would take up their energies and plus, he wanted them to be at their optimum for when the finals started.

"So, Kise," Kotarou started. "I hear that you can copy people's moves with just a look."

"Yes, Hayama-senpai. It's a gift, I guess."

"Call me Kotarou-senpai instead and I'll call you Ryou-kun." He perked. "But anyway, I was wondering if you could copy my lightning dribble."

"Are you an idiot!?" Yukio said as he knocked the boy on his head. "Don't be giving him ideas!"

"But, he's on your team." Shouichi joined in. "Isn't that beneficial to you?"

"I know, but, in this tournament, we're going to be enemies...so why is he helping an opposing team?"

"Trust me, my own captain feels like an opposing team." Kotarou sighed. "I rather play in streetball competitions than Inter-High championship with that midget any day."

"Umm, Kotarou-senpai, which midget are you talking about?" Kise was interested at this point.

"Your ex-captain, Akashi."

Kise froze on the spot.

"But guess what, we play the same position!" Kotarou quickly said as he saw the look on Kise's face. "Small forwards united!"

But then Kise's eyes intensified. Just imagining a match-up the redhead was enough to light a fire in his bones. "I don't know if I can copy your dribble. I'll have to see it first." he smirked. He was thinking that if he could get to learn this 'lightning dribble', when he faces Aomine, it'll give him sort of upper hand. After all, in his opinion, the name gave the impression that it's a really fast dribble.

"Well, you ―"

"―will just have to watch his matches to be able to do that." Yukio cut in.

"Senpai! Can't I just come ―"

"No." Yukio shot him down instantly. Kise looked like a kicked puppy that moment. "Besides, Kotarou doesn't live there. He lives in Kyoto."

"But I stay with them on weekends."

Yukio gave him a look. Shouichi wanted to laugh but instead, he pretended as though he was coughing. When Yukio then asked him the matter, he simply replied that his throat itched. The poor boy was trying everything not to laugh out at their exchange.

Soon after, Tanaka returned with their beverages the same time the teams were returning to the court for the second half. The players once more got into position, Seiho's ball. Omuro received it but after he made two dribbles, he was then blocked by Tsuchida. But, number seven had come up behind Tsuchida for a screen, allowing Omuro to pass. He then continued down the court and was about to make a shot when Hyuuga blocked it.

Since Koganei was the closest, he had retrieved it and passed it to Izuki, who, with the aid of his eyes, passed it quickly and flawlessly to Mitobe. The centre had caught the ball with ease but the problem was that Iwamura was behind him. Realizing that he couldn't pass the captain, Mitobe jumped with the ball, while in the hook shot form. The ball landed in the net smoothly.

"Looks like you haven't been playing around this year." Iwamura said to be Mitobe. The other boy only nodded in agreement.

The ball was then passed to Kasuga who made his way towards Seirin's net. Izuki then ran up to stop him but that didn't faze Seiho's point guard. When he was at his preferred place, Kasuga then jumped to make a shot with Izuki trying to block him. _Is he trying to shoot a layup from this far away?_ Izuki then realized what kind of shot he was making. A sc _oop shot?_ The ball went perfectly into the net. _I've never seen such a soft touch._ He thought as he looked at Iwamura and Kasuga retreating. _If Iwamura is a rigid player, then that guy's flexible._

Izuki then passed the ball to Hyuuga who then passed the ball to Mitobe. He found it once more difficult to pass Seiho's captain, not wanting to use the hook shot again in fear of it being blocked, Mitobe passed the ball to Koganei who had run up seeing the situation. When Koganei received the ball, Mitobe then screened out the captain, so that Koganei could shoot freely. The shot was made smoothly, not a single defender to hinder the cat-faced forward.

"Go for it Seirin!" Tetsuya's housemates cheered. Kise simply hooted. This match was heating up once again, both teams were fighting for their spot in the final. The Senpai of Seirin held their own magnificently against Seiho, the Kings of the North fighting to keep their throne. Baskets after baskets were made, neither team let up in offense and defense. By the time the game reached into the fourth quarter, the two teams were neck-and-neck with each other in terms of points.

Just then, Tsuchida was passed the ball by Izuki, but Omuro had managed to intercept it. It was heading outside the court, number seven chasing after it. However, in his opinion, it seemed as a lost cause, so he had slowed down. But Koganei didn't. He had managed to catch the ball and push it back inside but in doing so, he missed his footing and tumbled over his bench.

"Koganei-kun, are you okay!" Riko asked in panic. "Or not!" she saw that his eyes were spinning and worst of all, he had yet to reply. She then turned to her other boys. "I think it's a slight concussion."

"Then let me play! Please!" Kagami begged.

"What are you talking about? You can't play." Hyuuga said. "Have you forgotten why we're conserving your energy? We'll settle this, you wait!"

"I just can't sit still anymore! I want to help ―" Kagami broke off as a hand was clasped over his mouth.

"I agree," Tetsuya said. "So the guy who we need to take on Midorima-kun should stay on the bench."

Kagami then grabbed his head. "What did you say, Kuroko?"

"We need you for Midorima-kun. Shutoku preserved his strength long before the first quarter even ended, so we should do the same."

"I've got to pay back Tsugawa for what he did!"

"Fine." Kuroko said. "I'll beat Tsugawa for you."

"What? What good will that do?!" Kagami once more grabbed his head. "There's no point if you beat him!"

Looking at the scoreboard, they saw that it was sixty to sixty four in Seiho's favour. Then Hyuuga made his decision. "Fine, as another first year, take down Tsugawa, Kuroko."

"What?!" Kagami couldn't believe what was happening. Tetsuya nodded in response to the captain and proceeded to take off his shirt. The team then made their way back onto the court, Tetsuya's face bearing a serious expression. When he reached where Tsugawa was, he noticed that bald-headed player seemed a bit disappointed.

"Oh? It's just you." he huffed as he folded his arms. "I wanted to play Kagami."

"Sorry, apparently he has a grudge so I'm here to pay it back by proxy." Tetsuya's face actually darkened when he said this.

Up in the audience, the housemates were rejoicing that they'd get to see Tetsuya play once more. Kise chuckled darkly, as he remembered what happened in middle school with Tsugawa. _Take revenge for me, Kurokocchi!_ He thought. Everyone noticed the sudden change in the blond's behaviour but brushed it off as him getting excited to see how Tetsuya would demolish his victim.

Thus, the game continued, with Izuki having the ball. The moment Tetsuya saw this, he vanished from Tsugawa's sight, and ran in the direction of Izuki. When the point guard passed the ball to him, Hyuuga broke free of his defender and headed towards the three-point line. Without hitch, Tetsuya redirected the ball to him and he made his three with an evil smirk on his face.

Tsugawa was left in shock. He hadn't marked Tetsuya before, so he had no idea that he disappears on the court. _I lost him! How did...when did he…?_

This time it was Seiho's possession, Omuro had the ball. He dribbled until he reached into Seirin's half of the court, but the instant he passed it, Hyuuga stole it and ran down the court. When a defender came to block him, he passed to Izuki who then passed it to Tetsuya. The small teen redirected it to Mitobe who made a shot.

As the match went on, Seirin came back with a powerful force, Tetsuya stealing the ball and redirecting them, constantly left Seiho for a loop. Hyuuga made his shots cleanly, Izuki gave out his instructions clearly. Mitobe defended their net from Iwamura, Tsuchida getting in some points as well.

It was then that Kagami realized how awesome Tetsuya really is. Of all their matches, he's never gotten to see him in action, as they're both playing at the same time. But now...the redhead let out a breath of amazement.

Tetsuya was unstoppable. The blue-haired teen went on a stealing spree, Seiho's players hardly had any time to register what was going on. As for Tsugawa, he kept looking around like a headless chicken, constantly running after his mark.

Seeing this, Kise erupted with laughter, glad that the bald-headed player was getting what he deserved. "Drive him crazy, Kurokocchi!" Kise cheered.

"Take that ball away! Take that ball away! Go Tetsu!" Kotarou followed.

"Tetsuya!" Tanaka, Shouichi and Yukio cheered. They were the loudest in the entire gymnasium, but they didn't care. As for Kise, his feeling of embarrassment had been long gone, as now he was having fun cheering for his Kurokocchi.

It was now twenty-seven seconds left in the fourth quarter, Seirin was defending while Seiho went on the offensive. Iwamura thundered towards them with the ball, and when he reached close enough, he jumped and made a dunk. The power was so strong that he blew away both Mitobe and Tsuchida who were there to stop him.

"Do not underestimate a king!" he roared. "You need ten more years of experience to beat us!" They then went into an all-court man-to-man formation.

"They're not just trying to defend, but trying to score another shot!" Shouichi said in realization.

"They really are trying hard." Tanaka said.

Back on the court, Izuki had the ball and faced off with Kasuga. Seeing that Izuki needed help, Mitobe came up behind Kasuga and screened him out so that Izuki could pass. "Nice! I'm impressed Mitobe!" he said as he made his way to Seiho's net. Izuki then encountered number seven, but in that instant, he passed to Tetsuya, who was ready and waiting.

"Damn it!" Iwamura shouted as he realized what was about to happen.

Glancing around, Tetsuya was about to pass to Tsuchida, however, Tsugawa came up and blocked him. Seeing this, the housemates were shocked.

"Tsugawa? How?!" Kise said, alarmed.

"He found him by calculating backwards from the pass course!" Yukio responded.

Seeing the danger, Kagami stood up and called out to his shadow. "Kuroko!"

Tetsuya swiped his hand over the ball. He then used his other hand to send the ball rocketing to Hyuuga, who without fail, made a perfect three.

The buzzer then sounded, signalling the end of the match. For couple seconds, Seiho and the audience were stunned into silence, as they couldn't believe that a 'king' had just lost. The Seirin team rejoiced as they converged on the court, jumping and hooting from joy.

"Why?" Tsugawa then said. "Seirin just formed last year! We practiced way more than them! They didn't stand a chance last year! No matter how you look at it we're stronger!"

"Enough, Tsugawa," Iwamura said, holding onto the boy's shoulder. "The strong don't win. The winners are the strong ones."

Tsugawa then looked at Tetsuya. "Your name! Tell me your name!"

"Kuroko Tetsuya."

"I won't forget next time."

Tetsuya only nodded and walked to regroup with his teammates. They then assembled at the centre after which the referee made the announcement. "Seventy-three to seventy-one, Seirin!"

"Thank you very much!"

"Congratulations guys," Riko greeted as they made their way to the bench.

Placing a hand on her head, Hyuuga then whispered in her ear, "Keep it together coach, it's not time to cry yet." he continued, "You can be happy after we win the next championship game." She wiped her eyes, getting rid of the evidence that she was crying.

"Looks like they've finished too." Kagami said, gaining Tetsuya's attention. Looking at the team, he felt uneasy. Next was going to be his match-up against Kazunari.

 _It seems that I won't have free reign like I did with Seiho._ Tetsuya thought.

Up in the audience, the housemates and Kise had totally forgotten that Shutoku had been playing on the other court. They were so engrossed by Seirin and Seiho's match, that they had tuned them out.

"Now, the real showdown begins." Kotarou snickered. "Who will win? Tetsu or Kazu?"

"I honestly don't know." Shouichi said. "But...Kazunari has a pair of eyes that may bring destruction to Tetsuya."

"No matter what, Kurokocchi will be the victor!" Kise joined in. "He doesn't know when or how to give up!"

"That's right." Tanaka said. "But, surely, in a match such as this, it'll be anyone's game."

"I can't wait for them to start." Kotarou said. The others grinned in agreement.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

"Go put on your jacket before your body gets cold!" Riko's voice sounded throughout their locker room. "Make sure you stretch. Also, take some amino acids to restore your energy. Don't forget to calorie re-charge!" she said while massaging Hyuuga's foot. "I'll come massage each of you so take off your shoes!" After that, she then turned to Hyuuga. "How does that feel?"

"Thanks." He replied. "I'd be lying if I said that I'm not tired, but I should be able to make it through the next game."

"Yosha!" Kagami shouted. "Finally, I get to play for an entire match!"

"Calm down Bakagami!" Riko said to him. "Don't be so eager!"

Ignoring what was going on before him, Tetsuya then turned to Koganei and said, "I'm going to the bathroom."

"I'll go too." He said as he came off the locker. The two walked to the bathroom in silence, none not knowing what to say to the other. Well, neither minded anyway. When they finally reached the door, and entered, Tetsuya's eyes caught someone that he wanted to see. When said boy looked up and saw Tetsuya, a grin reached onto his face.

"Tetsu-chan!" he said as he pounced upon him.

_xxxx_

_I get to play Tetsu-chan! I can't wait to see which one of our schools will come out on top!_ Kazunari thought as he washed his hands. Just as he was almost done, the door opened to reveal Tetsuya and Koganei. A bright smile spread across his face and without hitch, he pounced upon the smaller teen.

"Tetsu-chan!" he said with glee.

"Kazunari-kun," Tetsuya wheezed out. "Your hold is too tight."

"Oh sorry!" but then his face got serious. "You what this means, right Tetsu-chan?"

"Of course. You're going _down_."

"Please, don't you think it's the other way around?"

"As if." he then chuckled. "Seirin will win, after all, I don't want to confess naked on the school roof."

"Pfft!" Kazunari laughed out. "I forgot that you have that threat hanging over your head! But anyway, start mustering up your courage, you'll be confessing." He then gave Tetsuya another hug after which he told the boy good luck and exited from the bathroom. Koganei could only watch the two in shock unable to utter a single word.

_xxxx_

 

After couple minutes, both teams were gathered by their benches, the captains giving their pep talk. Shutoku was lively and fierce, in contrast to Seirin.

"I'm beat." Hyuuga said with a heavy sigh. He even sounded a bit dreary. "I've been feeling melancholy since this morning. We've got two games in a row, against two kings. And even while playing Seiho, all I could think about was playing another game after we beat them." He continued, his voice and attitude changing. "But there's only one game left. We don't have to worry about bothersome crap like the next game or reserving our energy. We can focus on the one thing we have to do! Give everything we have until we can't give anymore!" He shouted.

"Yeah!"

The referee's whistle then blew followed his voice, "Line up!" Both teams then made their way onto the court. While they were doing so, Hyuuga realized something about Kagami. _He's quieter than I expected._

"I didn't think you would actually make it this far." Midorima said as he walked up to Tetsuya. "But it ends here. No matter how weak, small or unknown, any team can fight as long as they work together. That is an illusion." He then readjusted his glasses with his finger, "Come. I will show you just how foolish your choice was."

Tetsuya didn't say anything right away. He kept his composure, searching for the right choice of words. "Seirin isn't weak. We will not lose, Midorima-kun."

Midorima narrowed his eyes at the shorter boy before walking off. The two teams then lined up in front of each other, waiting for the game to start.

"Will Seirin miraculously beat two kings in a row to win, or will Shutoku protect its rightful throne?" Yukio said.

"Well, it's a very unpredictable match. Both Tetsuya-kun and Kazunari-kun are both great players in their own way." Tanaka said. "We'll just have to see which team works well with each other."

"And which ace can stop the other." Kise added. "I know for a fact that Kagamicchi won't be able to leave Midorimacchi alone."

"I think he's obsessed with you miracles." Yukio said. "I get that he likes challenges but jeez..."

"Well, if he wants to be number one, of course he has to beat the miracles." Kotarou said. "I'll feel pretty bad for him when he meets Akashi."

Shouichi let out an amused laugh. "Akashi? Please, there's Aomine." he then smirked. "I truly believe that he's the best at basketball despite his ways."

"Please," Yukio rolled his eyes. "My Kise is the best. Your Aomine can't do what he can."

"And your Kise can't do what Aomine can."

"Of course he can! With one look, he'll copy your ace and dish out his moves with twice as much force!"

"Hah! That's all he can do, copy! But he doesn't have any moves of his own!"

"So what!? That just proves how talented he is!"

"No! It just proves that Aomine is better!"

Thei little banter had turned out into a full blown debate about whose ace is better, Kise shrinking away from the two as they looked as though they would murder each other this instant. Shouichi had grabbed Yukio's tie, Yukio grabbed onto Shouichi's hair with a fist in his face. Kotarou chuckled, while Tanaka, the moment Shouichi had laughed, had took out his phone and was videoing the two. He knows, that for some strange reason, these two are always getting into some sort of debate about simplest of things. But nonetheless, they would always make up without even realizing it.

The teams had then headed out onto the court, and after the referee's announcement, the players all got into their positions. The referee then threw the ball into the air for the tip-off, Kagami and Otusbo facing off. When both boys jumped, Kagami managed to get the ball to Mitobe who then passed it to Izuki. The point guard then made a break towards Shutoku's net but after two dribbles, he halted. The Shutoku players were already on their marks.

 _They're quick! We wanted a run-gun for a quick shot but..._ He held his train of thoughts.

"There are no gaps in their defense." Furihata said.

"One! Take care!" Kawahara shouted.

"No!" Riko said quickly. "Matching a stronger opponent is like giving them control of the game! Attack them in the first quarter! You have to greet them by taking them by storm." she finished her sentence with a smile.

Izuki then passed the ball to Tetsuya who then rocketed it upwards to the net. Kagami had then caught it and was aiming for a dunk. Shutoku's players were surprised by the quick action but not Midorima. As soon as Kagami's hand came down, he knocked the ball from his hands.

"How disappointing." Midorima said to Kagami. "You think you could beat us with that?"

Kazunari then caught the ball with ease, "I knew you could do it, Shin-chan." He smiled. He then dashed down the court with the ball but was blocked by Izuki. He then passed to the ball left behind his back to Kimura who headed towards the net. He was about to make a shot, when Hyuuga blocked him. It bounced off the rim of the net, everyone on the Seirin bench exhaled.

And so, for two minutes, neither team had managed to score. There had been countless attempts, but each teams' defense never allowed it. Up in the audience, the entire Seiho team that played were seated comfortably and was watching.

"Oh man," Kasuga said. "They're stuck in equilibrium."

"Once the opponent takes control of the game, it's very difficult to take it back during the same quarter." Iwamura joined in.

Over on the other side of the gymnasium, Tetsuya's housemates and Kise were drawn in by the match. Yukio then looked at the scoreboard. "It's been almost two minutes without either team scoring. At this rate, whoever scores the first point will take the first quarter."

"Indeed." Shouichi agreed. "But, I wonder who it will be." he smirked.

The game went on with Hyuuga dribbling down court. A shot was made but it rebounded off the net, Otsubo beating Mitobe to it. He then threw it to Kazunari who dashed off. He had Izuki blocking him but then he passed behind him into Midorima's hands. Hyuuga seeing this was shocked. _What? Are you trying to shoot a three from there? Midorima!_

The green haired miracle shot the ball, and before it even went into the net, he and Kazunari were heading back to defend.

Tetsuya ran to Kagami and whispered, "Keep running." Kagami then dashed off towards Shutoku's net. Seirin's players were surprised by it, and none noticed Tetsuya heading towards Seirin's net.

"The balance is broken!" Kise said, alarmed "Come on, Seirin!"

"Shutoku's in control." Tanaka added. "For now, at least."

Tetsuya then got the ball, and with a firm grip, he spun. Timing it just right, he released the ball that landed in Kagami's palm.

"What?" Midorima said as Kagami dunked the ball with eagerness.

The audience was shocked. Even Seiho were.

"What was that, Ichiro's laser beam?" Kasuga said shocked. "This is basketball!"

Kotarou, Yukio, Shouichi cheered, Tanaka applauded and Kise looked shocked.

 _I've never seen that before. But thanks to him the flow of the game hasn't changed._ Hyuuga thought. _This game is just getting started._

Riko was shocked as well. She couldn't find words to say.

"What was that?" Koganei said, looking frightened.

"That cut straight from one side of the court to another." Tsuchida added.

"Kuroko," Midorima said, peeved.

"I'm sorry. I can't let you take the first quarter that easily." Tetsuya replied. He wanted to smile as the looks on Shutoku's faces were hilarious. Well, anyone would be. There has never been a record of any passing style like his before.

Kazunari looked at Tetsuya and chuckled. "Damn, I'd never think that you'd pull that out to counter Shin-chan."

"Expect the unexpected Kazunari-kun." Tetsuya smirked.

Shutoku's possession, Miyaji dribbled down the court and then passed to Midorima. But, he spotted Tetsuya heading to his net and in that moment, he decided to pass instead. This action left his fellow teammates with raised eyebrows as there was no one there to hinder his shooting.

"He could've made that shot." Kise said with a raised eyebrow. "Why didn't he?"

"I see." Yukio said.

"Huh?"

"He's been shut down, with Tetsuya spinning long distance passes. Midorima's team returns to defense during the long lag time of his shots and that's good for stopping run and gun plays. However, not everyone goes back. Just in case he misses, they leave someone to rebound the ball. That lag time bites them in the ass. If Midorima can go back, Kagami can also run back. They can counter Midorima with a super fast break by running past him."

"That's why he can't shoot." Kotarou finished.

On the Shutoku bench, the coach watched Tetsuya. "I was already surprised by how little presence he has but he can pass like that, too. They can shut down Midorima that way. What should we do?"

 _We can't have people think this is all it takes to shut us down._ Kazunari thought. He then weaved around Izuki and when Mitobe came to block him, he passed to Otsubo that made a shot. Mitobe then retrieved the ball, and passed to Izuki. He then dribbled down the court and then passed to Hyuuga who had Miyaji marking him. The shooting guard then passed to Tetsuya who redirected the ball to Mitobe. He made the shot.

"This is it." The coach was done observing Tetsuya and planned to make his move. "Takao, Kimura, change marks. Takao get on number eleven." Kazunari stopped but continued to bounce the ball.

 _He's marking Kuroko?_ Hyuuga thought.

"It doesn't matter who's on him." Furihata said.

"He's so invisible, anyone would lose him." Kawahara added.

 _They're already taking a direct approach._ Riko thought. _What are they trying to do?_ But then she remembered when Tetsuya had warned them that Kazunari may give them trouble in that match.

The game progressed, Kazunari dribbled with the ball until he stopped in front of Izuki. He then passed the ball behind him to Miyaji who caught it with ease.

 _That pass! He has it too!_ Izuki thought.

When they were heading back, Kazunari went in front of Tetsuya. "So we're finally marking each other, Tetsu-chan." He started. "I'm not going to lose to you. As I have said before, start mustering your courage."

"Really now?" Tetsuya remarked. "And as I keep saying, Seirin will not lose." But in truth, with Kazunari marking him, Tetsuya couldn't shake the feel of unease he had welling inside him. He knew that Kazunari's eyes were nothing to sniff at, and if he doesn't think of something fast, he's going to be in serious trouble.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kagami asked Midorima upon seeing Kazunari in front of Tetsuya. "No matter how fast Takao is, that's not the way to handle Kuroko."

"I am already familiar with Kuroko's abilities. You will see soon enough." Midorima answered. "And plus, Takao is as well."

The ball was passed into Tetsuya's direction, but Kazunari quickly intercepted it. He then passed to Kimura who then passed to Miyaji. He then made a shot effortlessly. Tetsuya was shocked. _Shit._ He thought.

"Start mustering up that courage, Tetsu-chan."

"Don't worry, there won't be a need to."

By the time Kazunari blinked, Tetsuya had moved. "It's rude to suddenly disappear like that!" he seemed infuriated. But within a second his expression changed. "Just kidding."

Izuki dribbled the ball while trying to prevent Kimura from stealing it. "Hyuuga's free! Go!" he shouted. He then passed to Tetsuya but as soon as Tetsuya knocked the ball into Hyuuga's direction, Kazunari knocked the ball to the ground. Tetsuya almost froze on the spot. Seirin's players were awestruck.

 _Seriously?_ Kagami thought.

"That's the first time he's failed." Hyuuga said.

"No, that wasn't a mistake." Izuki replied. "Takao's got the same eagle eye that I have. No...his hawk eye's field of vision is even larger than mine." Hyuuga gasped. "Kuroko's misdirection relies on redirecting the gaze of other players. However, his hawk eye allows him to see everything. He's not just trying to watch Kuroko. In other words, Kuroko's misdirection doesn't work against Takao."

Kazunari then made a shot.

"Too bad Kuroko," Midorima said to himself.

Tetsuya was still frozen. This is the first time that anyone that he'd passed to didn't receive the ball. _This is worst than I had imagined_. Tetsuya then jogged off, going back into his position. However, seeing how he looked, and remembering the warning, Riko quickly called for a time-out. When the players returned to the bench, they were still in a state of shock.

 _I can't believe he can follow Kuroko._ Hyuuga thought.

 _I didn't think there was anyone like that._ Riko thought, looking over at Shutoku. _We're in trouble._

"Hey don't tell me you're going to keep letting them get you." Kagami said putting a hand on Tetsuya's hair.

"I..." he started, with a pitiful look on his face. "I don't like it." He managed to say. "I never thought that Kazunari-kun would have been such a problem. I knew that he would have probably have an idea of where I am due to his eyes, but this..."

"That's what I like to hear!" Kagami said. Even though he had totally ignored the last sentence. He then turned to Riko with Tetsuya's head still in his huge palm. "Coach! Let's keep going like this, please."

"Like this?" she asked.

"I don't think that's a wise choice Kagami-kun." Tetsuya said.

"He's right Kagami. His misdirection doesn't work against Takao." Izuki said. "It's not like he could do something to make Takao focus mainly on him or something."

Hearing Izuki say that, Tetsuya had an idea. A small smile graced his face, having the confidence that his plan may work. But the problem that Tetsuya faced was the duration. He was taken out of his thoughts when he heard the referee...

"Time out, over!"

"Take care of Takao." Kagami said as he got up. _Let's go say hi. We've got a new play to give them._ Kagami thought as he looked at Midorima.

"I will." he replied.

The game continued, as usual Kazunari was on Tetsuya. For once, he was actually going to try to make someone notice him and him only. He didn't really know how to pull it off, but he had a vague idea of what to do. But this was Kazunari...he knew that he can't take the boy lightly, after all, he's The Raiju's best friend ― brother.

"Hey have you come up with a plan?" Kazunari asked him. It was evident in his voice that he was genuinely concerned.

"Kinda." Tetsuya honestly replied. "Vaguely."

The game continued on with Izuki dribbling the ball down the court. He then passed to Mitobe but Miyaji stole the ball. Izuki then went to block him but then he passed to Kazunari who headed towards Seirin's net and shot the ball. Shutoku, by now was on thirteen while Seirin was on eight.

"Shutoku is leading. Are we really going to be okay?" Kawahara asked.

"This game depends on Kuroko-kun and Kagami-kun who had on reserve." He then looked at something in her hand. "However, that's not all."

"What is that?" Fukuda asked, seeing the thing in her hand.

"One I broke before."

"Broke?"

"After we lost last year. Hyuuga-kun asked me to help him be able to make his shots while under pressure."

"Really? So what did you do Coach?"

"Simple. I broke one of his precious Sengoku warrior figures for every shot missed during practice. But, his personality suffered a little, though." She then smiled. "Hyuuga-kun will always make the most important shots."

They then looked back to the court just in time to catch Hyuuga landing a three. "Who cares about Kings? Go die!"

Shutoku's players cringed in fright when they heard Hyuuga's exclamation. They then began to wonder if Seirin's captain was alright, and not a crazy psychopath. Miyaji then had the ball dribbling down court but was soon blocked by Hyuuga. The blond then passed to Otsubo who was facing off with Mitobe. The captain then made a pass to Kimura but Tetsuya intercepted it and knocked it to Hyuuga. However, Kazunari stopped the ball. Tetsuya twitched in annoyance.

"Stealing a steal!" Fukuda shouted,

"Kuroko's been shut down!" Kawahara said.

Up in the audience, Kise couldn't believe what was happening to Tetsuya. Never before he had missed his intended target, and it was then that he realized what the others were saying. _That Kazunari guy really can stop Kurokocchi_. He thought. _What are you going to do now, Kurokocchi?_

"Go Kazu! Steal dem balls!" Kotarou cheered. "Don't worry Tetsu! You'll figure it out!"

"Nice steal!" Tanaka added.

"Go Kazunari!" Yukio and Shouichi shouted. "Go Tetsuya!"

Back on the court, Midorima stood at the centre line, and addressed Kagami. "What are you doing? Defend harder. We're doing everything we can." As he said this, the ball landed firmly in his hand. "My shooting range isn't that short."

 _He's shooting from the centre line?_ Kagami thought. Midorima shot the ball, and with a perfect arc, it went into the net smoothly. The audience was stunned.

 _The high arc extends his range._ Hyuuga thought.

Midorima then ran back to Shutoku's net to defend. "As long as I'm back here, you cannot get behind me with Kuroko's passes. But it's all irrelevant. My shots are three points, and your counter is only two. Even if we do nothing, the gap will only grow wider."

Hearing this, Tetsuya knew that Midorima was right. With Hyuuga being guarded, their chances of him making his shots freely are slim. Kagami is the only one who can storm and dunk but that's two points as Midorima said. If only he could get away from Kazunari, then things would pick up. But his roommate and brother just won't leave him alone.

The game restarted, Hyuuga had the ball and then passed it to Kagami before Miyaji could steal it. The redhead then came to a stop before Midorima, and addressed the green head.

"You've got something interesting there." He started, "but..." he then shot the ball.

"A three?" Midorima was puzzled.

 _I thought he wasn't good at outside shots._ Kazunari thought.

Kagami then ran towards the net with a smile on his face. _If it goes in then that's fine. If it misses, I'll dunk it myself!_ The ball bounced off the rim of the net, and without hitch Kagami dunked the ball, Otsubo unable to stop him.

"Kagami-kun..." Tetsuya whispered to himself. For some reason, that sort of gave him an idea. If he can't misdirect, maybe he could coordinate. In their street matches, he's seen Kazunari and Kotarou coordinate splendidly, Yukio and Shouichi as well. But, this was a gamble which was more likely to fail than succeed. After all, his ball handling skills isn't as good as a point guard's. Seirin then ran back to defend, Mitobe gave him a pat on the back. Izuki did the same but dropped a pun in there. "So nice how nice it was."

"Izuki, seriously, stop." Hyuuga said, jogging up to him. The score now was Seirin on thirteen while Shutoku was on sixteen.

"Izuki-senpai," Tetsuya then called out to the point guard. "I have an idea. Since my misdirection won't work, I was thinking of coordinating with you instead."

"Coordinate? How?"

"Maybe we could use the One-Two style from street ball. Or pick and roll or something." he said as he looked in Kazunari's direction. "If things aren't dealt with now, he's going to be even more dangerous. I know what he can do, so we can't take him lightly."

Before Izuki could reply, they then heard a dribble from Shutoku's side of the court. The Seirin players looked on in confusion as Midorima was the one with the ball. He was all the way in his half of the court, almost underneath his net.

"That was a pretty good shot for you." Midorima said as he bounced the ball. "However..." he paused as he got into shooting position.

 _Wh-what are you doing?_ Kagami was shocked. _How many metres do you think you're..._

"Kuroko's speculation was right." Hyuuga said. "He _can_ do a full court shot!"

Midorima then shot the ball. Its arc extended almost as high as the lights but when it came crashing down, it went perfectly into the net. "I told you, it's not that short. My shooting range is the entire court."

The audience and everyone was stunned. Tanaka stared slack-jawed at the green-haired teen, Kotarou covered his mouth in shock, Shouichi had to be wiping his lenses as he thought that they were foggy, and Yukio stared wide-eyed. Kise was not that surprised as he should be, as he had a hunch that Midorima would have been able to do that one day. After all, they were teammates for two years.

"First quarter over! Two minute interval!" the referee announced as he blew his whistle.

The Seirin bench was silent. _We've got a something bigger to worry about than the score._

"I've seen videos of NBA players make that shot during practice, but trying that in an actual game is ridiculous." Izuki said.

"The Generation of Miracles are ridiculous." Hyuuga said.

"How are we supposed to stop that?" Koganei asked.

Tetsuya looked a bit vulnerable. His balls were constantly stolen by Kazunari and his passes being intercepted. He just hopes that his plan will come bear fruit this time. If not, then more than likely, he'd have to be benched.

"Izuki-senpai," he called.

"Kuroko?"

"Remember the plan I told you on the court?"

"Yeah," Izuki trailed off. "That means you won't be using misdirection...but can you handle it? I mean ―"

"It'll be fine, Izuki-senpai. I won't hold the ball too long for it to be stolen."

"I got it." He replied. "Let's do it then."

"I just hope it works though."

"We'll make it work."

The two boys then explained their plan to the rest of the team, Riko giving her approval that it could work. But instead of just Izuki and Tetsuya, someone else will have to be nearby in case Tetsuya cornered and can't pass the ball.

The whistle was then blown, and the game continued. Kazunari had the ball but was blocked by Hyuuga. He then passed to Midorima, but Tetsuya went and intercepted the pass. Kazunari saw this and headed into his direction. Tetsuya didn't pass as yet instead he dribbled the ball and tried to go around Kazunari.

 _What's this?_ Kazunari thought when he saw the action. He knows that Tetsuya can't handle the ball that well. _Perhaps, after this, Yu-chan and I need to teach him how to improve his ball handling skills._

Tetsuya then started the dribble on the spot, and in that moment, Izuki and Kagami had come to the boy's rescue. Kagami went behind Kazunari to create a screen and then when Tetsuya broke free, he bounced the ball directly into Izuki's hands after which the point guard passed it to Hyuuga, quickly, the captain sunk a three.

Seeing this, Kazunari was shocked. He knew that Tetsuya always thought outside of the box and can be very unpredictable, but this was something that the hawk-eyed boy had not anticipated. He couldn't help but smile, though.

Up in the audience, Tetsuya's housemates and Kise went into a cheering frenzy, stunned that Tetsuya had done something so daring. Across from them, Mochida and Shige were cheering as well, Shige appalled at Tetsuya's skills. But the boy didn't know that this was all a gamble.

Back on the court, the Seirin players then went to re-group, Hyuuga praising the three boys for their beautiful teamwork just now.

Miyaji restarted with the ball and then passed it to Otsubo. He had Mitobe blocking him but with swift movements, he broke pass him and intended to pass to Kimura. Tetsuya had intercepted the ball, but the moment he did so, Kazunari was on him. Quickly, Izuki ran in his direction. With his hawk eye, Kazunari could see Izuki coming so he blocked Tetsuya on his left.

Realizing what was happening just a second early, Tetsuya pivoted on his left leg and went around Kazunari, bounced the ball to Hyuuga who was nearby. The captain then passed the ball back to Izuki, who caught it with ease and dribbled towards Shutoku's net. When he was close enough, he then passed it to Kagami who went for a dunk.

"How did you...?" Kazunari was at a loss for words.

"Expected the unexpected Kazunari-kun." Tetsuya smiled mischievously.

The ball was then passed to Kazunari, who was being blocked by Izuki. He looked around the court for his possible options, and so decided to pass to Midorima. Kagami wasn't as close to him as he should. When the shooter received the ball, timing it just right, Tetsuya ran in his direction. But Kazunari was on him.

"Now, now." He started. "It's me you're dealing with, remember?"

Tetsuya grit his teeth. _Kazunari-kun just won't leave me alone._

When it was Shutoku's Kazunari then passed the ball to Midorima, who dribbled down the court. Tetsuya was then heading into the shooter's direction but Kazunari came up to block him. Seeing Tetsuya being blocked, Kagami decided to stop Midorima. However, Midorima navigated his way around the redhead and shot a three.

 _He doesn't just shoots threes, he's fast!_ Kagami thought. _Damn that monster._

"Don't get in my way, Takao." Midorima said to the point guard.

"Don't be so shy." He replied playfully.

After Izuki retrieved the ball, he then passed it to Kagami who dribbled down court. When he came up to Midorima, he passed the ball to Tetsuya who redirected it back in his direction after Kagami broke pass him. However, there Kazunari was, just in time to stop it. Tetsuya was shocked but at the same time, worried.

 _This is ridiculous! Can't they do anything with Tak_ _a_ _o on the court?_ Riko thought.

 _Crap! If he can shoot from anywhere, if he gets away from me for even a second..._ Kagami thought frantically.

Midorima released the ball and it went perfectly into the net, making Shutoku on twenty-six points while Seirin was on twenty.

The second quarter continued like this, both Shutoku and Seirin going hard at it. Kazunari's hawk-eyes helped him to create good plays for his team and kept Tetsuya under control (for the most part), Otsubo defended his net well even though Mitobe was there. Kimura and Miyaji made some shots as well, and Midorima, he sank his threes as often as he got the ball.

Hyuuga was not a monstrous shooter like Midorima but he made his threes as well, Kagami tried to keep Midorima still sometimes, but Kimura's screens always helped the shooter to break free. There are other times when the redheaded goes in for dunks too. Mitobe tried his best defending, protecting his net well. It seems that he'd always return the favour to Otsubo whenever he's in his court. Izuki and Tetsuya worked well with each other, since his misdirection was virtually useless against Kazunari.

It was less than a minute left in the quarter and Tetsuya then made his way to Izuki who had the ball dribbling. With a nod, he passed the ball to him who continued to dribble down the court. He then looked around to see who was free.

"Hyuuga or Kagami." Izuki whispered to the boy since he was close to him. With a nod, Tetsuya then seemed to have made a drive towards the net, Kazunari coming up to block him. But before he get close enough to Tetsuya, the blue-haired teen then passed it to Hyuuga instead of Kagami. The captain then passed the ball overhead to Mitobe who landed a hook shot against Otsubo.

The Seirin players then sighed a relief and motioned to defend their net when they heard Midorima spoke.

"No matter how much you score," he began while dribbling the ball, "you cannot stop my shots once I've released the ball."

"No you don't!" Kagami shouted as he ran towards him. When Midorima jumped to release the ball, Kagami jumped as well but he unable to stop it.

 _It's so high. Once it starts, I won't be able to stop it._ Kagami thought as he stretched, hoping to at least graze the ball.

 _At this rate, I'm more worried about my heart than the score. My heart's going to break!_ Hyuuga thought.

The ball landed in the net smoothly.

 _How are we supposed to stop him?_ Riko thought as she looked at the scoreboard. _Only Kuroko could but_ _Takao_ _isn't making it easy for him._ Seirin was on twenty while Shutoku was pulling away at twenty-nine points.

"This isn't good." Yukio said, "Looks like Seirin reached their limit."

"Playing against two Kings in the same day is brutal." Shouichi said. "It's even worse for a team like Seirin who doesn't have strong bench players."

"Looking at things now, Shutoku has the advantage." Tanaka said. "Tetsuya-kun can't roam free as long as Kazunari-kun is on the court, once their shooter gets the ball, he's unstoppable. While on the other hand, Seirin's shooter can be stopped with a good enough block."

"Things are looking bleak," Kotarou said.

Back on the court, Kagami started laughing. _He's strong. This is Midorima._ He thought after which he laughed again, this time louder. This caught the attention of everyone.

 _Kagami always laughs when he's up against a strong opponent, but something's not right._ Hyuuga thought as he looked with surprise at the redhead. He even caught Tetsuya's attention as well. Looking closer, small teen saw it. The savage grin that was on his face and the aura that emanated from his body almost made Tetsuya worry. It was then that he started to recall what Kise had told him in the park, and was silently hoping that it doesn't come to fruit.

"Kagami-kun..." Tetsuya said to himself.

"End of the second quarter! Ten minute interval!" the referee then announced.


	11. Chapter 11

 

By the end of the first half, the teams had returned to their locker rooms, probably thinking about what to do in the second half. Shutoku was in the lead, but Seirin was not far behind. This had surprised many in the audience, even though they had witnessed their win against Seiho.

The locker room was melancholic, no one said anything, all that was on their minds was to win this match. Tetsuya was wondering how long he and Izuki's coordination could last for, but he prayed that it would. He then looked at Kagami, who was strangely silent. In the match, he could've sworn that he saw something strange happening to the redhead, but he chose to deny it.

Looking at her boys, Riko didn't like how they seemed to be sullen. _No one's talking,_ she thought. _What should I do? I have to say something to raise their spirits. What should I…Focus focus!_ She then shook her head to prevent her thoughts from wandering. _Fo-kiss? I said I'd kiss them during the Seiho game! I can't do the same thing again, can I?_

With a trembling fist, she called out to her boys. "Hey, everyone…" she started.

"Coach, it's okay." Hyuuga stopped her before she could go any further. "You're probably going to say something stupid anyway. Read the situation." _I'm glad you're trying to cheer us up, but honestly, I can't imagine us winning._ He added a thought.

Izuki then headed over to Tetsuya. He placed a hand on his shoulder before taking a seat.

"Izuki-senpai?"

"You look a bit worried there." he started. "There's no need for you to be. Your idea was a pretty good one."

"But the duration is what's bothering me." Tetsuya admitted. "I don't think it's going to last long." he then got an idea. "Maybe if I sit out this quarter, then..."

"...you'll be able to spring another surprise on them, right?"

Tetsuya nodded. "But this is really difficult. Right now, I don't know if I can win or not." He then turned around and continued, "But I have a feeling that a meteor would crash into Shutoku's bench at the last minute."

"You're right." Izuki said as he chuckled.

"Yeah," Koganei, Tsuchida and Mitobe nodded in unison.

"Don't give me that!" Hyuuga said as he got to his feet. "A meteor?! If that should happen, everyone in the gymnasium would be dead! Including us! That's a crazy thought!"

"But what if they all get stomach aches?" Tsuchida added.

"Don't get carried away. That won't happen either!" Hyuuga said.

"Well compared to that, a second half comeback is way more realistic." Koganei said. Mitobe nodded in agreement.

"Let's just keep running and think after the game is over." Hyuuga said once more. "Let's go!"

"Yeah!"

_xxxx_

In the audience, the Seiho team looked at the empty court with a look of apathy. Seirin were behind Shutoku and what was evident, was that they were struggling. Their famous phantom who moves around the court like a ninja, stealing and redirecting passes has been shut down basically. It was shocking, that Shutoku had someone who could keep an eye on the phantom.

"If they lose this badly, people will think we're weak." Tsugawa said with a frown.

"I don't know if we could've beaten them either." Iwamura joined. "Their offense is pretty strong this year."

"How can the addition of a single member change the team this much?" Kasuga added. "Man, in times like these I wished that we had gotten a miracle as well. Preferably their centre, he'd definitely beef up our defense."

"I know right." Omuro sighed.

Both teams made their way back onto the court and swiftly got into position. Tetsuya had been subbed off, something that he was actually glad for. At least now he can watch Kazunari even closer without any restrictions.

Yukio and the others were chatting away, Kise, Kotarou and Tanaka chatting about many things, not just basketball, and much to Yukio's displeasure, Kotarou and Kise were becoming quite too friendly. But, he and Shouichi were also chatting, ignoring the other three. Then, the entire audience's attention were then the teams re-entered the court. It was then that Tetsuya's housemates realized something.

"They benched Tetsuya." Yukio said after noticing that the light blue-haired boy was sitting quietly on the bench. "Well, it is a wise decision to make."

"Given the fact that he can't do anything with Kazu on the court." Kotarou added. "I knew that Kazu has a pair of eyes, but damn, he stopped Tetsuya in his tracks completely."

"But now that he's on the bench, I think Kurokocchi is going to come back with vengeance come the fourth quarter." Kise beamed.

"Well, of course." Tanaka smiled proudly. "Tetsuya-kun absolutely hates losing. Regardless of who he's playing."

"But that's not it. I doubt that Seirin has a strategy." Shouichi spoke up. "Shutoku isn't just Kazunari. They have people more dangerous anyway."

"Let the third quarter begin!" the referee then announced.

"Fight!" Furihata cheered.

 _I wish we had some kind of opening._ Riko thought. _Something…_

The game started, Mitobe dribbled the ball with Otsubo trailing him. When the captain came to block him, he quickly passed to Hyuuga who caught it with one hand.

"Hyuuga-senpai! Behind you!" Furihata warned. But before he could something, Kazunari knocked the ball from his hands, from behind and it went straight into Midorima's hands. He then got into position for a three, but Kagami came up on him ready to block.

 _This bastard when did he…?_ Midorima thought, _No more importantly…_ He shot the ball, and it went safely into the net, however, it barely missed Kagami's fingers.

 _I won't lose! More…more…_ Kagami chanted in his head over and over.

Izuki dribbled the ball, and then passed it behind him. The ball landed in Koganei's palms and the cat faced player hadn't expected that.

"Good, they didn't expect him to!" Kawahara said.

"Koganei-senpai can shoot from anywhere!" Furihata added. As he said this, Koganei made the shot, and it went in perfectly. "He made it this time!"

"Why do you have to say that?" he asked.

Seirin was now on thirty-nine while Shutoku was on forty-eight. Kazunari had the ball dribbling but was blocked by Izuki. _Otsubo-san's open but Kagami-kun you're not guarding_ _Shin-chan_ _closely enough._ He thought. He then bounced the ball to Midorima with Kagami running up to block him. Midorima then went into his shooting form.

During this, time seemed to have slowed down for Kagami. He then remembered Tetsuya saying that he wasn't sure if he could win or not. _You don't give up until the very end. But that means if you give everything you have and still can't do it, you accept the loss. Playing against an opponent who's impossible to beat excites me but ultimately, there's no point if I don't win!_

He then jumped to block Midorima. The shooter released the ball, but Kagami was determined. Stretching his arm, his finger managed to touch the ball causing it to run around the hoop before going in. _Ridiculous! Is this even possible? He's been getting higher and higher all game!_ Midorima thought.

"That was close!" Kazunari said.

"This is the first time I've seen Midorima's shot go in like that." Kimura added.

 _There it is! Our opening!_ Riko thought.

When Kagami walked by Midorima, the shooter called out to him.

"Hey. You, what's your sign?"

"Me? I'm a Leo." He replied. He then walked off.

"That horoscope is really always right." Midorima said to himself.

The ball was then passed to Hyuuga who shot a three. _Don't lose focus. If you do, it's over,_ Hyuuga spoke to himself.

"He might not be as good as Midorima, but he does make a lot of shots." Iwamura said when he saw him take the shot.

"He's the one who finished us off." Kasuga added.

Elsewhere in the audience, Mochida and Shige were watching the match with looks of shock. Seirin, was struggling to attack and keep up with Shutoku, but at the same time, they were motivated. They were moved. Seirin had a fighting spirit that was strong enough to even reach in the audience. It was then that Shige felt something well within him.

"In the face of overwhelming power, they still keep fighting." Shige said aloud. It wasn't directed to anyone in particular.

"I know." Mochida replied. "I wish we had that when we were in middle school."

Shige chuckled slightly. "Maybe it would have done a difference. But then again, in middle school, we were facing all the miracles at once. Right now, there's only one miracle per team. That's a significant difference."

"But the fact remains, they are still facing a miracle."

"Whatever."

Back on the court, it was Shutoku's possession, Kazunari had the ball. He looked at the Seirin players with optimistic look. "Well done, but our Midorima is unstoppable." Kazunari said, holding the ball.

Midorima then broke away from Kagami heading to Kazunari. The point guard then bounced the ball to him and he faced off once more with Kagami. When Midorima took a step Kagami moved as well to block him. The redhead then remembered his match with Kaijou, _I won my game against Kise. But that was because of Kuroko. I didn't win by myself. If that's what it takes to win, fine. But if I don't have Kuroko? Will I lose? No I refuse to!_

Midorima then looked in Kazunari's direction and then broke pass Kagami. Kazunari came up and screened him out, "It's two on one now!" he said.

"I'll still stop you!" Kagami said unfazed. "Thanks to all the times you showed me, I've finally found your weakness!" He sprinted pass Kazunari, aiming for Midorima. "The longer the shot, the longer it takes to make the shot!" he jumped with an arm stretched reaching for the ball. His finger managed to touch it.

 _He touched it again? Impossible!_ Midorima thought.

 _This trajectory…_ When Hyuuga saw the ball in the air, he knew something was off. … _could it be?_

The ball bounced off the rim of the net, Mitobe aiming to get the rebound. However, Otsubo was taller and dunked it.

 _Shutoku still has that guy._ Hyuuga thought. _Shit,_

 _I had Koganei-kun take Kuroko-kun's place to stop Midorima-kun with Kagami-kun but at this rate…_ Riko thought.

Tetsuya's eyes narrowed at Kagami. Other than Kazunari, he'd been watching the redhead ever since the game re-started.

Hyuuga passed the ball to Koganei who dribbled towards Shutoku's net. He attempted to make a shot but Otsubo blocked him, slamming the ball into his stomach. He bounced it to Miyaji who immediately passed to Kazunari. He then looked in Otsubo's direction and saw that Hyuuga and Mitobe were double teaming him.

Kazunari then passed to Midorima when Izuki had run up to block him. _He's closer this time; he won't need as much time. He can make the shot._

When Midorima went into his shooting form, Kagami ran up to him. As Midorima was about to release the ball, Kagami jumped. When the ball was then released, it landed in Kagami palms which slammed it back down onto the court.

Izuki then ran off toward the ball, "There's always a drawback, no matter how strong the ability. They have another weakness!" he dribbled the ball to Shutoku's net and made a clean shot.

Seeing when Kagami had made the shot, the audience went into an uproar. Shouts reverberated throughout the gymnasium, luckily, the players were too engrossed in their match to pay any attention.

"He blocked him!" Kotarou shouted with glee. "He really did it!"

"And now, Seirin can score." Shouichi added. "Shutoku's court is completely empty."

"Of course. It's a perfect opportunity for a counter. Since he can shoot so far away, their own net is that much closer if the shot is blocked."

But for Kise, the moment he saw Kagami stopped Midorima's shot, his face took on a sombre expression. It drew the attention of the others around him, being that, not too long ago, the blond had been a bubbling ball of sunshine. Tanaka then asked,

"What's wrong, Kise-kun?"

"His legs." Kise started. "I caught a glimpse of it when he made that last alley-oop in the practice match. The strength to stand against the Generation of Miracles, and one of the greatest weapons in basketball. His hidden ability is his innate jumping power."

"Jumping power?" the others (minus Yukio) said in unison. After all, knew what Kise was talking about. He had found it odd at the time, both he and Kise jumped at the same time, but Kise started to fall before. And what was more surprising, Kagami was still in the air.

Back on the court, Kagami stopped to wipe the sweat off his face. _I can't just rely on Kuroko and the Senpai._ Kagami said as he wiped away his sweat.

"Takao, give me the ball!" Otsubo shouted.

"Huh? But they're double teaming you…"

"It doesn't matter!"

Kazunari then passed the ball to him, in which he turned to make a shot. Mitobe and Koganei jumped to block him but it seemed as though they wouldn't reach.

Kagami saw the problem, and dashed in their direction. _I'll become stronger. Strong enough to win without relying on others! Strong enough to win by myself!_ He reached Otsubo before he could put the ball in the net and knocked it to the ground. The captain was shocked.

 _S-so high!_ Otsubo thought.

 _And fast! How did he close the gap so quickly?!_ Midorima thought.

"Foul! Black 10!" the referee said as he blew his whistle. However, Kagami didn't care about what he was saying. _I'll win! Even if I have to do it by myself._

The game continued, Kagami dribbled the ball until he came up on Midorima. He seemed to have passed him with ease and thundered down court to the net.

 _What's with this guy's deal?_ Miyaji thought.

 _Are you telling me that a guy who just graduated from middle school is pressuring our team?_ Kimura thought as he watched Kagami.

 _I've never seen anyone like this before in the country._ Otsubo thought as he saw Kagami jump and dunked the ball. _What is with this extraordinary jumping power?_

"Amazing! Nice Kagami!" Koganei said to him as they ran back.

"Could you give me the ball more?" He asked.

"Huh?"

 _I'll do it._ Kagami thought.

When he was back in position, the Shutoku players looked at him with shock. At this moment, Kagami seemed to be unstoppable.

 _I can't believe he can stop Midorima. Even if the time for him to make the shot is his weakness, I can't believe he can block such a high shot._ Kazunari thought.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves just because you blocked on of Midorima's shots." Miyaji said as he dribbled. He came up against Hyuuga but then decided to shoot a three.

"Miyaji-san, wait! That position…!" Kazunari shouted. He wasn't able to finish his sentence as Kagami knocked the ball from Miyaji's hands from behind. The ball went straight into Hyuuga's hands. The captain then quickly passed back the ball to Kagami. Miyaji went to block him along with Kimura but then he went into a shooting form.

 _Don't be ridiculous!_ Kimura said as he was falling. _How much longer are you going to keep jumping? Are you sure you're not hanging from a wire?_ Kagami then shot the ball, it landed in the net perfectly.

On the bench, Riko and the other couldn't believe what they were seeing. Kagami was pushing back Shutoku. Even though it was bit sloppy sometimes, the redhead was actually pressuring them. Looking at the scoreboard, Seirin was now on forty-seven, while Shutoku was on fifty-six. Midorima dribbled the ball, with Kagami in front of him.

"Hmph." Midorima started. He saw how hard Kagami panted and had an idea of what was happening. "I acknowledge your strength. However…you will not close the gap any further." He then held the ball.

"What did you say?" Midorima then jumped to shoot the ball, "No you don't!" when he was about to jump, he felt the pain in his legs. The ball was then released and it went into the net.

"Sorry, but it's the truth."

"Kagami!" Koganei called out.

"Ah, there it is." Tanaka said with a nod. "I was just wondering how he hasn't broken down yet."

"He's out of gas isn't he?" Yukio asked.

"Exactly." Tanaka responded. "He's still young. And given his size, his body isn't fit enough to be running and jumping around like that. He's no monster after all."

"Hot-heads, they always overexert themselves." Yukio sighed.

"But not only that, he played Seiho. Even though it was the only the first quarter, they were still a hard nut to crack." Shouichi added. "And judging by his personality, he must've been playing hard against Seiho."

"It finally started to affect him, huh." Kotarou sighed. "Damn Seirin's situation just keeps getting worse and worse. Tetsu can't do much because of Kazu and now their ace is on the verge of shutting down."

Even Seiho were noticing Kagami. "This doesn't look good." Kasuga said. "And he's not the only one who's about to run out of gas." His eyes landed on the Seirin players who all had their bodies drenched with sweat.

Kagami continued to dribble towards Midorima and Kimura.

 _You're pushing yourself too hard!_ Hyuuga thought. _And it's not time yet you idiot!_ He then ran off towards the redhead, calling out to him. "Kagami, wait!" But it was too late. Kagami had gone for a shot but Midorima blocked it. Otsubo then caught the ball and passed it to Kimura who made a shot.

"Damn it." Kagami said.

"Third quarter is over!" the referee announced after the buzzer was sounded. On Seirin's bench were the players who were on the court hydrating themselves while the rest stood before them along with Riko.

"Damn it!" Kagami cursed.

"Kagami, you're getting too worked up." Izuki said. "Pay more attention to your surroundings."

"That's right." Hyuuga added after he took a drink of water. "And that wasn't the right time to go, you should've passed first."

"What good would passing the ball around have done?" Kagami asked not even sparing a look to Hyuuga.

"What?"

"I'm the only one that who stands a chance against Shutoku. We don't need team play now. We need me to score."

"Hey, what are you saying?" Fukuda asked.

"That's different from being self-centered!" Koganei added.

Tetsuya walked up to Kagami and without a word, landed a punch on his left cheek, surprising everyone. Kagami dropped off the bench onto his back.

"Kuroko-kun!" Riko called out.

"Damn it, Kuroko, you bastard!" Kagami said as he got up. He then grabbed Tetsuya's shirt and pulled him closer.

"You can't play basketball by yourself." he said to the redhead. His voice was full of emotion this time.

"As long as we play nice together you don't care if we lose? There's no point if we don't win!" Kagami shouted back.

"There's no point if you win by yourself! How can we beat the Generation of Miracles if you're thinking like that?! Even if we beat Shutoku as a team that can't trust each other no one will be happy."

"Don't be naïve!" Kagami roared as he punched Tetsuya to the ground. "If we don't win, those are nothing more than pretty words!"

"Then, what is victory?" Tetsuya said as he got up. He then slowly got up onto his feet and faced Kagami. "No matter how many more points you have at the end of the game, if you're not happy, that's not victory." He said firmly.

"That-that's right." Koganei said to ease the mood. "It's not as though we want to lose."

"We're just saying there's no reason for you to do it all by yourself." Izuki added.

"Do you have any objections?" Hyuuga asked.

"No, but…well…" he started. "Of course I'd rather be happy when we win."

"Now that Kuroko's calmed Kagami down…" Hyuuga said changing the subject. "The situation hasn't changed. What should we do?"

"Kagami-kun, how many more times can you jump?" Riko asked.

"Jump? You mean those super jumps that stopped Midorima?" Hyuuga asked.

"They push your natural jumping power to the limit, so they're exhausting. On top of that, your body isn't strong enough yet. There's a limit on how many times you can do that in a game."

"I can still jump! Any amount of times!" He answered.

"You don't need to act tough right now." She then looked down at his feet. "Two's your limit."

"Two?" Izuki asked.

"How are we supposed to stop Midorima with two?" Hyuuga asked.

With a look up at Kagami, Riko then said, "Keep on for the deciding moment of the game and use the other to stop the first shot of the fourth quarter."

"I have an idea as well." Tetsuya perked up. "I can try out another pass."

"Another pass?" Riko asked.

"Why haven't you said anything before?" Hyuuga asked.

"I was observing you. Only a few people can catch it." Tetsuya explained. "But in his current condition only Kagami-kun may be one of them." He then added. "However, just passing to Kagami-kun won't work until the end. Probably Izuki-senpai and I have to do what we were before."

"We can do it." Izuki said. "Besides, my eyes are cramping up."

"Hn? What does that mean?" Koganei asked.

His question was left unanswered, as the buzzer sounded. Both teams made their way back onto the court.

But, in the audience, the air around Tetsuya's housemates dropped to a frigid degree. All their faces darkened, and Kise felt as though he was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. As for the people that were sitting close to them, they had moved away from them in fear.

"Oh no, he didn't just punch my Tetsuya." Yukio snarled darkly.

"I'm going to skin him alive." Shouichi said, his glasses glinting, and adding to that, the smirk on his face was dangerous.

"How dare he." Kotarou snapped. His grip on the railing tightened and Kise could have sworn that if Kotarou could, he would have snapped the railing in two.

"Oh would you look at this?" Tanaka said evilly. "I have a pocket knife on me."

Kise's eyes widened.

"Lend me that!" Shouichi said as he stood up and took aim. "Shit," he mumbled after. He then sat down with a defeated look on his face. "I can't get a clean shot from this distance."

Back on the court, the Seirin players were converging with each other.

"Go for some shots in the last quarter." Hyuuga said to Izuki.

"All right."

"Senpai…" Kagami called. "Sorry about that."

"Huh? Oh don't worry about it." A small smile reached on Kagami's face. "That's what I'd like to say." The look on Hyuuga's face was absolutely venomous. "But the way you said that, I'll hit you later."

"Hey, we're starting Hyuuga." Izuki said.

"Well, it'll have to wait." He continued, "Laugh or cry, we've got ten minutes. "Let's go!"

Over by the Shutoku bench, the players had seen everything that went down. Kazunari especially was seething with rage. He gripped the bench as tight as he could to quell his anger. He stared at their bench, not even listening to his coach and captain. No one is supposed to touch Tetsuya. No one is supposed to damage Tetsuya. _No one._

"Let the fourth quarter begin!" he was taken out his thoughts by the referee.

After the throw in, Hyuuga dribbled the ball was blocked by Kimura. Tetsuya and Kazunari were facing off with each other, running in Hyuuga's direction.

Hyuuga then passed the ball to Kagami, who had Midorima following him. The two ran until they came upon Otsubo. Kagami then passed the ball left to Mitobe who landed a shot.

 _He's not charging in by himself like he did before._ Otsubo thought.

 _Getting punched by Kuroko must've cooled his head. However, you have a little stamina left._ Midorima said to himself as he made an indication for the ball to be passed to him. Otsubo complied.

"They're quick to restart!" Koganei said.

"Kagami!" Tsuchida called out.

 _You cannot stop my shots anymore._ Midorima thought as he got into shooting form.

 _I'm almost running on empty,_ Kagami thought as he ran towards Midorima. _But…_ He ran up to Midorima and once more, knocked the ball from his hands.

"What?" he said in shock. _He can still jump? But I know he's nearly out of energy. Doesn't he intend to save everything for the end?_

The ball landed into the arms of Hyuuga who then passed it to Izuki who quickly shot the ball. _Go in!_ He prayed. It went in, earning three points.

"Coach, are you sure we should've our first of two so early?" Furihata asked.

"It's a bluff." She answered.

"What?" the boys asked in unison.

"Starting now, we can barely cover him normally, so we can't stop Midorima-kun if he shoots. However, Midorima won't take an impossible shot as long as we make think Kagami might still have those unbelievable jumps left in him. At the very least, I think we can reduce the number of shots he takes." She then leaned forwards, _so the rest is up to you, Kuroko-kun._

Midorima and Kagami faced off on the court, while Tetsuya had Kazunari.

"Looks like they're really counting on you." Kazunari started. "But no matter what you try, I'll stop you." Tetsuya didn't say anything. "You can't escape my hawk eye."

This was when Tetsuya smirked. "That's even better."

 _Without any blind spots, your misdirection won't work against Takao._ Hyuuga thought. "What are you going to do, Kuroko?" he then asked him.

"Actually, it's probably not completely ineffective against him." Izuki spoke from behind the captain.

"What?"

"Takao's hawk eyes field of vision is so wide he can see the entire court. That's why he can continue to watch Kuroko even if his attention is directed elsewhere. So…instead of directing attention away from himself, Kuroko used the opposite of misdirection instead. In other words, he drew attention to himself."

The moment he said this, they realized that neither Kazunari nor Tetsuya had moved from their spot. The point guard then looked in Tetsuya's direction and was shocked to see that he hadn't budged.

 _What? He's close._ Kazunari thought. But as soon as Kazunari took his eyes off Tetsuya, he shifted his position. _I lost sight of him, you're kidding!_ He saw Izuki dribbling down the court and then made a pass in Kagami's direction. _Calm down. Even if I can't find_ _Tetsu-chan_ _, I still know Kagami's location. As long as I can jump in between the ball and Kagami..._ He then made a move for the ball,

"I don't think so." Tetsuya said. He then ran towards the ball and then pushed it forwards with his palm.

Kazunari's eyes widened. _Isn't that...the Ignite Pass?!_

The ball flew past Kazunari's fingers at a blinding speed, Kagami catching it. The redhead then made his way to the net but he had to get pass Midorima. Remembering what Riko told him about his jumps, decided to discard it. _I know but if we don't make something happen here when are we going to do it?!_ He thought. He then jumped; this caused Midorima to jump as well, hoping he would have blocked the dunk.

"No you don't!" he shouted. However, since Kagami's jumps were better, he managed to get the ball in. The shooting guard was stunned.

"Kuroko," Kagami jogged up to the blue-haired boy when they were heading back. "It sucks but the Coach was right. I don't think I can jump anymore. I'm going to have to trick Midorima into thinking that I can cover him. I don't really want to say this, but the rest is up to you." He gave a pat on the back.

Inside, Tetsuya blanched. _The rest is up to me? Isn't that something you'd say to an ace?_ But the only thing he found coming out of his mouth was, "okay."

Once more, Tetsuya's housemates were stunned. They all knew that pass all too well, as they had been on the receiving end of it many times in their street matches. But what surprised them was that Kazunari wasn't able to catch it.

"How is that possible?" Kotarou said. "Kazu should have been able to catch that!"

"I see." Tanaka said as he leaned forwards. "The reason is the receiving party."

"Huh?"

"That strength and speed used for that pass is dependent on the receiver. Since the recipient is Kagami, he's got a much more stronger and sturdier body than you, in addition to that, this court is longer than a street court. So the force needed has to be adjusted."

The game continued with Tetsuya redirecting the ball to any player who was nearby the net. At first it was Hyuuga who made a three, and then it was Mitobe. Kazunari kept losing sight of him, and for this, Tetsuya made full use of this.

With two minutes remaining, there was only a one basket difference between Seirin and Shutoku. This prompted Shutoku's coach to call a time out.

"I didn't think you'd catch up this much." Midorima said to Tetsuya.

"Midorima-kun, you once said dunks are shots that can only score two points. Your threes are certainly impressive. But I think inspiring dunks, like the one he just made, are worth more than the points they score." Tetsuya replied. He then walked off to their bench.

In the audience there was a silence as the unbelievable had happened. Seirin had caught up with Shutoku.

"That's the last time out." Iwamura said. "Seirin's got control of the game now."

"I wonder who will win." Kasuga said.

"Is he going to be alright running on fumes?" Kise said.

"You could argue that that wasn't the time to force a dunk." Yukio said. "I mean, there's not much point to dunking, anyway."

Hearing that, Kise sweat-dropped. "I bet he loves to show off," he then said.

"So do you." Yukio looked in the blond's direction with a face. His face got more serious. "Will Shutoku break away, or will Seirin overtake them? It's a deciding time-out."

"Of course it be the latter." Shouichi chuckled. "As much as he looks that way, Tetsuya can be quite the vengeful spirit."

"So true!" they all erupted with laughter.

The time-out was over and the game continued. Shutoku had the ball, and then it was passed by Miyaji to Midorima. Unfortunately, it never made it to its destination. Tetsuya knocked the ball away before it could reach into Midorima's hands.

"Kuroko got it!" Kawahara shouted.

"I thought they might try that!" Riko said.

"What?"

"Once Kagami-kun's trick was revealed, their passes would focus on Midorima-kun. It's like they're telling us where they're passing to!"

Hyuuga received the ball, and headed to Shutoku's net. However, Otsubo was behind him. As soon as took the shot, the ball was knocked from his hands.

Watching the match, Kise noticed something odd about it. "This is kind of creepy. I thought it would've gotten more intense." he said.

"Since Shutoku dropped their pace, the score's been frozen in place." Kotarou replied. "One more minute left."

At this time, Midorima made a three. This made Shutoku move up to eighty-one points. Seirin and Shutoku made their way to the other side of the court, dribbling and blocking. By the time they reached the three point line, Hyuuga stopped but Izuki and the others were a bit further.

"Izuki!" he called out. Without a word, the point guard passed the ball to him and he made a three. It was so perfect that it seemed effortless.

"All right!" he cheered.

"Seirin got their own three! They're only two points behind now!" Iwamura said.

"This match is as good as anybody's!" Tsugawa added.

Back on the bench, Koganei was sweating from anxiety. "Eighteen more seconds!"

Riko then got up and shouted, "There's no time! Get them!"

Tetsuya knocked the ball away from Kazunari into Izuki's direction but then it was knocked out by Kimura.

"Seirin ball!" the referee shouted.

"Fifteen seconds left!" Shouichi said. He was almost at the edge of his seat.

"This is Seirin's last chance." Yukio said. But then, they were shocked when they saw Otsubo moving to block Hyuuga.

"They're doing everything they can to stop Seirin's threes!" Tanaka said, leaning forwards so much that it seemed like he would have fallen over. "This is not good."

"Indeed, as they need to make a three right now. If Hyuuga can't make this, it's over." Yukio added.

"Don't worry; I have a feeling that he'll make it." Kise said. For some reason, he was confident in Seirin's captain.

Back on the court, Otsubo addressed Hyuuga.

"I acknowledge your skill. That's why I'll do everything I can to stop you."

"I don't want to owe you anymore." He replied. "You just gave me a pretty passionate block." He then to the bench and saw the others cheering. _I've still got a lot of passion myself. Last year we faced reality when they tripled our score. But because of my love for basketball I managed to make it this far._

Mitobe passed the ball to Izuki who dribbled it. He then looked across and that's when Hyuuga moved heading towards the centre line. Kagami saw this as well, and went to screen out Otsubo.

 _A screen! But it's weak! I can catch up!_ Otsubo thought. He then spotted the captain. _What? He's so far from the three point line…He's going to shoot from there?_

Izuki sent the ball to Hyuuga who caught it with ease. He quickly went into shooting form and released. The players watched as the ball, without as much height as Midorima's went in smoothly.

"Did we win?" Kagami asked.

"You haven't won as yet." Kazunari said as he passed the ball to Midorima.

"Let me tell you why I am determined to shoot so far away." Midorima started. "It's not simply because my shots are worth three points. It's not unusual for comebacks to happen in the last seconds of a close game. Sometimes, they are the result of desperate shots. I will not leave it up to chance. That is why I end games with a buzzer beater." He said as he got into shooting form. "That is what it means to do everything humanly possible."

"This isn't good!" Riko shouted. Even Tetsuya was surprised. "He caught Kuroko-kun and everyone else by surprise! Kagami-kun can't jump anymore!"

 _We're going to win! Move legs!_ He then bent his knees and…jumped.

 _Impossible! He should be at his limit!_ Kazunari thought.

But then Kagami noticed something. Midorima wasn't in front of him. He faked.

"I believed in you." Midorima said. "I believed that even at your limit, you would overcome it and jump.

 _What kind of heart does he have?_ Hyuuga thought. _A fake with only few seconds to go? Is this what the Generation of Miracles can do?_

In the moment that Midorima straighten to take the shot, Tetsuya knocked the ball to the ground.

"Kuroko!" Midorima said shocked.

"Even though a meteor didn't strike your bench, I guess this will do." Tetsuya said.

The buzzer then sounded signalling the end of the match.

Seirin's players cheered, while the crowd and Shutoku were stunned. Tanaka exhaled a breath, putting a hand on his chest.

"My heart almost failed right there." He said.

"That...that was unbelievable." Kotarou then said. "A last second steal."

"That's Kurokocchi for you." Kise added. He was proud of the boy and his team. And somehow, he was glad that he lost to Kuroko the other day.

"Eighty-two to eighty-one, Seirin!"

"Thank you very much!"

 


	12. Chapter 12

 

After the match had ended, the teams dragged themselves to their locker rooms, Seirin's players seemed to be destroyed. It was almost as though they crawled off the court, the bench players having to assist them in any way possible. By the time they reached their destination, they swiftly changed out of their sweaty jerseys, and sat on the bench.

"Alright! Let's go home!" Riko said. She had on her bag and was motioning towards the door.

"No...wait...sorry," Hyuuga croaked out. "Seriously...wait...We just played two games against Kings." He, Mitobe and Koganei were trembling from the exhaustion. "We'll be fine, after we rest for a few minutes. But Kagami..." the captain's eyes then looked over at the redhead. He was in a corner of the room, shaking too much. "He pushed himself far too hard."

"I can't even stand, let alone move." he replied, using a hand to support his back.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Riko then said after seeing them. _They're like zombies._ "But, we can't stay here forever though."

In that moment, Tetsuya's phone rang out, however, it was a message. When the boy read the message, a smile graced his face. He then turned to Riko, "Coach, could we go to the Okonomiyaki restaurant? It's nearby here."

"Alright, but..." she once again looked at Kagami. "...someone has to carry him. I doubt he can walk properly."

"I'm sorry, but I'm exhausted." Tetsuya said quickly. "Why not Fukuda-kun? He's strong enough to handle Kagami-kun, right?"

"Eh? Me?!" said boy answered in shock.

"That's right! You and Kawahara-kun can carry him! Furihata-kun could always carry your bags!" Riko beamed.

They then exited their dressing room, and headed outside. However, they noticed that the rain was still falling, so quickly, everyone quipped out their umbrellas. But, there was a slight problem. For Fukuda and Kawahara who were lumbering with Kagami, they had no hands free to steady an umbrella over their heads. The entire team sighed.

"I know! Kagami will have to lean on Fukuda-kun while he walks! Kawahara and Furihata can be on either side sheltering them with umbrellas!" Koganei suggested. However, everyone agreed to this idea, more like, no one had the energy to think up another solution. And thus, the team headed for the restaurant.

_xxxx_

Tetsuya's housemates and Kise left the gymnasium the moment the two teams exited the court, but instead of going straight home, they decided to stop by to get something to eat. Tanaka drove this time, fretting for their lives should Shouichi drive on these wet roads. This time, Kotarou sat with Tanaka at the front, while around the back there was Kise in between Yukio and Shouichi.

The blond didn't look as tense as he did before, but either way, for him to be between those two was like being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. But, for now, they chatted happily about one thing that had Kise sweating ― how to murder Kagami. He had seen how pissed they were at the fact that the redhead had punched Tetsuya to the floor, and he was wondering, _hoping_ that the redhead will make it out alive.

"Even now, I can't believe that he dared to punch Tetsuya." Yukio had said.

"I know! If I so see even a slight reddening of his skin..." Shouichi added.

"But, didn't you guys see that Kurokocchi had punched Kagamicchi first?" Kise said. "...umph!" his body was flung forwards unexpectedly. The car had suddenly stopped. A stifling silence enveloped the vehicle, Yukio, Shouichi, Kotarou and Tanaka looked at the blond with a rather hostile expression. Their eyes glowered at the blond, and Kise was fretting that he was going to be eaten alive. Tanaka's face was the most terrifying of all, and Kise swears to himself that he'll never watch another of Tetsuya'a matches with them around.

"Either way, he deserved it." Kotarou said, the car starting moving again and the atmosphere seemed normal again.

"Plus, Tetsuya can't harm a fly with his bare hands. So Tetsuya's punches are nothing. That bastard Kagami should know that." Shouichi hissed.

And so, their conversation continued, Kise not saying another word.

Within couple minutes, they had reached the restaurant, Tanaka driving off to find a suitable space to park, while the boys entered the establishment. They secured the largest table, as Kotarou had already messaged Tetsuya and Kazunari, informing them that they were coming here.

A minute or so later, Tanaka entered and took his seat. As the seating were, there was Yukio and Shouichi with two empty seats beside them. Facing them were Kise, Kotarou and Tanaka with an empty seat between those two. They then ordered, not wanting to wait for the other boys because God knows when they'll arrive.

"Kise and Kasamatsu?" they heard a voice say. Immediately, everyone at the table turned.

"Hey! No honorifics?!" Yukio shouted at the redhead. But, Kise noticed something. The mood around the table had changed once they had set their eyes on Kagami. Then, the team made their way to their seats, unfortunately for Kagami, he had took the seat beside Shouichi, Tetsuya out on the end.

The mood at the table had turned from murderous to awkward and then back to murderous within a couple of seconds. Kise kept stealing glances at Kagami and he saw just choked the redhead looked. But then, they sprang into action. Shouichi threw an arm around Kagami's shoulder as if trying to secure him in place. Then swiftly, Kotarou stood behind the boy, sinking both his elbows into the boy's shoulders.

"Ow! What are you doing!?" Kagami cried out in pain. "Who are you?!"

Meanwhile, Riko and the others could only stare on in shock at what was happening. They found the situation quite strange, Kagami being surrounded by people they have never met before (minus Yukio), Kise sitting and looking like he was petrified. Tetsuya only sat looking through the menu, behaving as though there was nothing wrong going on beside him.

"Kagami, I saw that you punched my precious Tetsuya." Yukio said with a threatening glare. "How dare you."

"Look at his cheek," Shouichi said, gripping Kagami's jaw and turning it in the direction of the boy. "Look at how its reddened."

"It even looks dislocated." Kotarou added his bits. Of course Tetsuya's jaw wasn't in such a state but for the sake of tormenting Kagami, he had to throw that in there. And knowing what was happening, Tetsuya then placed a hand on the area, and put on a pained expression.

 _Kuroko! How could you!?_ Kagami mentally screamed. "I ―"

He was cut off. He felt the cool sensation being pressed up against his neck and when he realized, he starting sweating bullets. There was a knife at his throat. With pleading eyes, he looked in Tetsuya's direction, but the boy wasn't even looking at him.

"He was the one who punched me first!" Kagami then shouted in defense. "It's only natural to retaliate!"

"No, he didn't. We were watching remember." Shouichi said, it was clear that he was denying it.

Knowing what may happen, Kise then took out his phone from his pocket, and plugged in his earphones. Then, he began to hum while going through his social media. However, there wasn't any music playing, he just wanted the others to think that way. After all, this was a battle that was not for him.

"Kise! Tell them!" Kagami then said. Kise stiffened momentarily, and glanced in the direction. But then continued as though he never heard the cry of help from the redhead. "Kise you bastard! I know that you can hear me!"

"How should we punish you?" Shouichi then asked, crackling evilly. "Should I gut you out?"

"Please boys, if you are going to do so, take it outside. The owner would kill me if there should be blood stains on his table, chairs and floor." Tanaka urged. "I really can't handle that. The police earlier today was enough."

"Oi, oi, oi," Hyuuga then decided to intervene. This seemed to be getting serious. "What are you doing to Kagami?" he then looked over all of them. "And who are you?"

They all paused. Even now, Tetsuya hadn't said a word.

"I'm Hayama Kotarou, of course."

"Imayoshi Shouichi."

"Adachi Tanaka."

"You've already met me." Yukio said with a shrug of his shoulders. "We all live with Tetsuya in case you're wondering."

" _All_ of you?" Riko asked. The boys nodded.

"What are you doing to Kagami?" Koganei then said. "We need him, you know."

"He damaged our precious Tetsuya. Obviously, he's going to be punished severely." Yukio said in a matter of factly.

"Wait a minute!" Izuki said. "You're referring to the punch? But Kuroko was the one who punched him first. So, it was only in self-defense, so to speak."

Tetsuya's housemates looked defeated. Of course they knew that Kuroko was the one who struck first, but they knew that it must've been for a reason. And a damn good one at that. So, seeing that it was a lost cause, they returned to their seats, and finally, the Seirin team was able to order. Due to that whole ruckus, they were ignoring their hunger.

"Man, Kagami! To think that you were able to stop Midorima's shot!" Kotarou then said, as though he hadn't threatened him not too long ago. "That was pretty cool!"

"Uh, yeah." he replied albeit hesitantly.

"But seriously," Shouichi then drawled. "Is dunking all you can do? Not even Aomine dunks all the time."

"Aomine?"

"My ace." Shouichi smirked. "We'll be meeting each other quite soon."

Somehow, Kagami felt all fired up. "Bring it on!"

Just then, the doors opened but no one paid attention to it. It was when they heard a voice that they all stopped and looked.

"Excuse me!" Kazunari said. "Sir, do you have two…?" he trailed off as he saw the entire Seirin sitting and eating. It was then that Midorima followed in behind him. But before the either of the boys could say anything, Hyuuga spoke.

"What are you doing here? And where are the others?"

Kazunari laughed lightly. "We lost our Senpai when Shin-chan was crying."

"Hey!"

"And I figured that we needed to come here since Ko-chan messaged me."

"We're going somewhere else!" Midorima then said.

"What? No!"

"It's obvious that there isn't enough seats!"

"Of course." Tanaka then said. He got up and walked to Kazunari. "Now there are two seats for you and your friend Kazunari. I'll be taking a nap in the car."

With that, he left, Kazunari humming happily as he and Midorima made their way to the seats. But in doing so, Kise and Shouichi changed their seats. Shouichi took Kise's spot, and Kise took Tanaka's seat. When all boys were seated, it was Yukio, Kazunari, Kagami, Tetsuya with Shouichi, Kotarou, Midorima and Kise facing them. Kazunari had ordered his food without waiting for Midorima.

"That table is ridiculous!" Hyuuga said upon seeing the arrangements.

"Hey, hey!" Riko said with glee. "Isn't this exciting?"

"That's quite the skill you have. I'm intrigued." Kotarou started. "Doing a full-court shot, that's a pretty dangerous move."

"Hmph. Thanks." he muttered. But then he took notice of Kotarou's uniform. "That's Rakuzan, right?"

"Yes it is." Kotarou smirked. "Nice to meet you, Shin-chan. I'm Hayama Kotarou, small forward of Rakuzan basketball team." He answered quite playfully. He had a feeling that Midorima would have asked him if he played basketball or if he knew Akashi.

But then, he saw Midorima twitch, and glared at Kazunari. "Likewise, Hayama-san." he replied. Seeing how Midorima had a sour mood, Kise then joined in.

"Midorimacchi, I know defeat hurts but lighten up." he perked. "At least order something."

"I just lost to him!" Midorima said, raising his voice. "If anything, I can't believe you have no problem sitting wit them! You already lost to them once."

Kise then made a face. He looked in Kagami and Tetsuya's direction with a sly smirk on his face. "Should we meet in Inter-High, there's no way Kaijou will lose to Seirin."

Kagami laughed. "Bring it on!"

"Kise, you've changed a little."

"Really? How?" Kise asked.

"Your eyes...they're strange."

"Strange?" Kise seemed a bit frightened. "Hmm, maybe it's because I've been practising a lot more. Also, I've been thinking that it's pretty fun playing basketball with the guys from Kaijou." And it was true. Kise showed up to practice every day and well, seemed to practice harder than anyone there.

"It seems I was mistaken." Midorima said. "You have not changed at all. You have simply reverted to a state before our three consecutive championships."

"And what's wrong with that?" Tetsuya asked.

"How you change is up to you. However, I'm not playing basketball for fun."

"You guys think too much." Kagami joined in. "Of course we play basketball because it's fun."

"What did you say? How dare you speak like you understand when you know nothing at all ―" He broke off as the food that Kazunari was flipping, landed on top of his head. "We can talk about that later." He then stood up from his seat. "Takao, come here."

"Sorry, sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Kazunari pleaded.

"Midorima, what are you going to be doing with Kazu?" Kotarou asked darkly. "Because if you dare lay you hands on him..."

Midorima paused. The look in Kotarou's eyes made him start sweating.

"Take it from me, don't touch him." Kagami advised. With a sigh, it was then that Midorima finally ordered something.

_xxxx_

The time soon passed quickly, and it was time for them to head home. Tanaka had came to pick them up instead of them having to walk where he had parked. They had placed the ricksaw into the trunk, and miraculously all of the boys fit in the car, even though they were a bit uncomfortable.

At the front, there was Shouichi and Yukio, and in the back, from the left, there was Kotarou, Kazunari, Kise and Midorima with Tetsuya stretching across all four. He sat in Kotarou's lap with his back to the door, his feet stretched out across the other boys' laps. Kise, who was on the other side, wished that he was in Kotarou's position. But then again, Tetsuya's housemates would have never allowed it.

Throughout the journey, however, there had many moments when they had a serious debate about who will win the leagues, Shouichi showing off about Aomine and when that happened, Yukio would brag about Kise. The blond would break out into happiness that his captain was speaking so highly about him. Kazunari, with his ace being there, decided to join in as well, telling them all about 'Shin-chan's' abilities which, the green-haired shooter would try to shut him up.

Kotarou would change the mood into something depressing once he talked about Akashi, even though he highlighted the redhead's good points. Tetsuya talked about Kagami, Izuki and Hyuuga mostly, even dropping in a pun Izuki had made earlier in the day. Kotarou would always erupt with laughter at Izuki's puns, but everyone would wonder what was the joke.

Tanaka had dropped off Kise first, not going directly to the blond's house, but it was in his neighbourhood, all he had to do was walk up the street. After him was Midorima, then shooter gave his thanks to Tanaka and wished Tetsuya best of luck when they meet Aomine. Then, they were on their way home.

It was when they were passing their street court that Tetsuya spotted someone practicing with a basketball.

He gasped in shock.

There was no way he'd miss him. Frantically, he told Tanaka to stop and dashed out of the car and headed towards the court. Everyone was stunned at this sudden action, so they too ended up exiting the car, following the boy.

Tetsuya had reached up to the boy but he hadn't noticed his presence. His back was turned either way. It has been a long time since he'd last seen him, since he'd last spoken to him.

"Ogiwara-kun."

The boy jumped in fright, and turned around slowly. When he saw the light-blue hair and sky blue eyes, he looked as though he wanted to tear up. "Kuroko..." he managed to utter out. "You know, you can call me Shige,"

"I'm sorry." Tetsuya said. "I'm really sorry for what happened in middle school. It's all ―"

He broke off as he felt arm wrapped around him. "I'm the one who's sorry! I didn't speak to you! I didn't tell you I was transferring! I left you!"

"But, I was the one who told them not to go easy on you. I thought that ―"

"It's not your fault. I knew that you wouldn't tell them to toy with us that way."

With trembling lips, Tetsuya returned Shige's hug.

"I watched your matches today." Shige started as he released Tetsuya. "Your team's got quite the fighting spirit."

"Yeah, well, we don't want to lose."

"It was really a good watch."

"Thanks."

At the fence, the boys along with Tanaka were watching the two.

"Who is that?" Tanaka asked as he tried to see Shige's face.

"I think that's Oikawa-kun. I remember from the pictures even though he's gotten bigger." Kazunari said.

"Isn't his name Okinawa?" Kotarou asked.

"I thought it was Okumura." Shouichi added his piece.

"You fools, it's Ogiwara." Yukio said with a sigh. He then continued, "He's got height going on for him. I think he's as tall as Kise."

"Yeah, he could probably be a centre." Shouichi said. "Imagine, his jump and his reach..." he trailed off as an idea struck into his head. They then exchanged glances. As though they could read each other's minds, they dashed off towards the two leaving Tanaka chuckling.

"Hey!" Kotarou and Kazunari called out. Shige looked in their direction with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, right." Tetsuya said. "These are my brothers, Kotarou-kun, Kazunari-kun, Shouichi-kun and Yukio-kun." he pointed at the boys individually. "This is Ogiwara Shigehiro-kun."

"Nice to meet you." they chorused.

"Likewise," Shige said.

"So Oikawa-kun," Kazunari started.

"It's Ogiwara," Shige corrected, "you can just call me Shige if you want."

"Right Shige-chan." he perked. "Do you play basketball at your school?"

"Ah, no." Shige replied, sounding a bit doleful.

"Do you want to play basketball?" Kazunari asked again.

"Yeah, well, I haven't played since middle school so I'm a bit rusty." Shige then paused. "Where would I even play?"

"No matter." Kotarou joined in. "You'll play with us in street ball competitions. That's what we do. We all attend different schools so the best way to play with each other is through street ball."

"That's..."

"So what do you say?" Yukio spoke up. "Are you willing?"

"I..."

"You'll get to play with Tetsuya." Shouichi smiled. "You'll receive his amazing passes and get the thrill of slamming the ball through the net." he sounded too much like a salesman. "In addition, you'll even get your own uniform."

"Wha..."

"It'll be fun, Ogiwara-kun." Tetsuya said.

With a sigh, Shige finally gave in. It seems like they wouldn't take no either way. "Alright. But I'll have to get myself back into shape."

The boys grinned. "That will be our job."

"But you don't mind if you play centre right?" Shouichi asked.

"No, I'm a small forward so, back in the day my defense was pretty good."

"Then ,it's settled!" Kotarou chirped. "Man, with Shige and Tatsu, we'll be able to get tip-offs now!"

"Damn right." Yukio smirked.

"Ogiwara Shigehiro, welcome to team RimFire!" they then chorused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

 ...

...

 

When Shige reached home, his arms and legs were aching, Tetsuya and his housemates had decided that after they made him a part of 'RimFire', they'd sharpen his skills. Since he had told them that he hadn't played basketball since his final year of middle school, he was pretty dull. But he didn't know that they would have been so strict. He shuddered at the memory, but knowing that he'll be playing the sport he loved with his childhood friend, Shige was going to endure it.

The first thing that they had done was dribbling. He was taught one-on-one by Kotarou, who addresses himself as the 'Dribble King'. During their session, Shige understood exactly why he called himself that. He had been victim to Kotarou's famous 'Lightning Dribble' when he was using only three fingers. The blond had helped Shige regain his dribbling skills somewhat, even teaching him the fundamentals of the different heights dribble. Due to Shige's height, he found that it'll be best to learn that first, since he'd more than likely face players of varying heights. Since their time was limited, Kotarou had to stop there. Even though it lasted for about fifteen minutes.

Without even a break, Shouichi had decided to join in as well. He didn't have a super-fast dribble like Kotarou, but he could shoot. The bespectacled teen made Shige try to block his shots, even if it wasn't a complete block, if his fingers grazed the ball it would be enough. However, not only was he fast, he was unpredictable. Sometimes, he would shoot threes, sometimes he would use the double clutch, sometimes he would do a layup. It almost drove Shige mad, but while they were doing that, Yukio had commented from the side that since he was going to be their centre, he should get re-acquainted with blocking the different types of shots. It was exhausting, jumping and running all over the place, but he knew it was worthwhile.

They then came to a stop when Tanaka had come to tell them that its time to head home. Since where they lived was really a two-minute walk from the court, Tanaka had driven Shige home, to ensure his safety.

Remembering all that made him smile. He had fun this evening. It was then that he was glad that Mochida had coaxed him to attend the preliminaries because none of this would have happened.

"Ah, and I'm going to be doing it tomorrow again." he then sighed. "I need to get lots of rest then." With that, he went to sleep.

_xxxx_

Saturday morning started with the boys bundled up in Kazunari and Tetsuya's room. Three times, the boys tried to wake them up and three times, they failed miserably. It was on the fourth try that they had a breakthrough. But sadly, it didn't last long. Kazunari's eyes had fluttered open for only a split second before he succumbed to sleep once again. Tetsuya seemed like a lost cause, he didn't even stir no matter how hard Shouichi shook him.

"He isn't waking up." Shouichi had said to Yukio.

"You don't think he's dead, right?" Kotarou then asked with worry. "I mean, no human being should be sleeping like that and they aren't in a coma."

A gloomy silence befell the three. They then exchanged glances and started to fret. "Oi, that can't be true right?" Yukio then said. "I'll check if he's breathing!"

Yukio then placed an index at Tetsuya's nostrils. When he felt the hot-air constant against his skin, he sighed a relief. "He's living."

They then exhaled, and then proceeded to leave the room. It was nine thirty in the morning, but due to their matches yesterday, they figured that they are exhausted. Especially Tetsuya. The boys then retreated downstairs into the kitchen, where Tanaka had just started to prepare breakfast.

"What will it be today, boys?" he asked with a smile.

"Pancakes!" Yukio and Shouichi shouted.

"Sandwiches!" Kotarou yelled.

Hearing the different opinions of each other, the boys then glared at each other.

"Pancakes." Yukio snarled.

"Sandwiches." Kotarou said venomously, gripping the table.

Tanaka sighed. While he loved that they were really awesome boys, their disagreements can be quite devastating if left alone. So to quell them, he made a quick decision.

"Pancakes and sandwiches it is then." with that he then headed into the kitchen, and started.

_xxxx_

A couple minutes passed, and both Tetsuya and Kazunari had reached downstairs. The moment Kazunari spotted Kotarou, they exploded into boisterous chatter, dragging the others with them as well. In one instant, they all mocked Tetsuya's bed-hair, no matter how many times they've seen the boy in the mornings, it just never gets old. Their chatter then spread from Tetsuya's hair to their recent basketball matches, to their upcoming matches and who's ace would crush the other. Of course, the ace argument was always between Shouichi and Yukio as those two's aces are the monsters. Kazunari only added that he can't join the conversation at this moment since Shutoku has been knocked out, but in Winter, he surely will. Kotarou said that Akashi would make them all bow down before him, which caused the boys to erupt with laughter. They knew it was true, but the way it was said, was really hilarious. Tetsuya only commented in a prideful manner that Seirin will stop them any day, which somehow, got them all fired up.

When the breakfast was ready, there were different plates of pancakes and sandwiches, and the moment Tanaka had set them down, and had taken a seat when the boys attacked the plates. Kotarou had the most sandwiches, while Yukio and Shouichi were evenly matched with pancakes. Tanaka, Kazunari and Tetsuya had mixed between pancakes and sandwiches.

They continued their chatter, even though they were eating. Yukio had reminded the boys (Kazunari and Kotarou) about the dangers and eating and talking; the others cracking up and Shouichi teasing Yukio about his motherly behaviour. Sadly for the bespectacled teen, a punch had landed squarely in his jaw.

Minutes then passed and they had almost finished eating, however…

"Get your fork off it, Yuki." Shouichi said evilly. "Do you not know the consequences of opposing me?"

"Ha. Who do you think you are? I suggest you take _your_ fork off of it if you wish to live, Shou." Yukio snarled. "If you don't, I'll punish you with certain death."

Both boys had aimed for the last pancake left on the plate, and neither was willing to give it up. They glared at each other menacingly, giving off a dangerous aura. Their hands trembled as even though they wanted to retract their hands, the pancake would rip in half...and neither wanted half a pancake. The other boys inched away from them slowly.

"You ate more than me anyway." Yukio said between gritted teeth.

"I beg to differ. Your stack was clearly higher than mine." Shouichi said in a likewise manner.

"Retract your fork this instant, Shou." Yukio hissed viciously.

"Only after you, Yuki." he smirked.

Sensing the danger, Tanaka swiftly left his seat and went for a knife in the kitchen. Before either boy could register what was happening, Tanaka chopped the pancake in half, in between where their forks rested.

"Tanaka-san!" both boys shouted.

"There, the war has been averted, right?" he sighed. "Each of you get half. It's fine now."

"But I didn't want half." Yukio muttered.

"Tsch, his half looks bigger than mine." Shouichi mumbled.

"I said, _it's fine now._ " Tanaka gave off a dangerous aura, the look in his face made the boys weak with fear.

"Hai!" they both responded, their voices entering a falsetto.

Tanaka then hummed as he made his way into the kitchen. "Don't stay too long! Remember that you have Ogiwara-kun to meet!"

"Hai!" they chorused.

After breakfast, the boys then headed out, going towards the street court.

xxxx

Shige left his house in a bubbly mood, but somehow, there was a part of him that told him that he was going to be in for a rough time today. He ambled down the sidewalk in a fair pace, bouncing his basketball as he did so. The ball felt somewhat foreign to his touch, due to this, he made a sigh. It has been months since he played basketball, the last time he did so, it was the finals in middle school against Teikou. _Those monsters,_ he thought grimly. Just remembering that past was enough to make his heart feel like it's breaking all over again.

He then reached a crossroads, and waited until it was safe to cross. He then thought about a what-if situation. He thought that suppose he hadn't ignored Tetsuya, and hadn't transferred, who knows, maybe he would still be playing basketball, and probably ending up going to the same school as Tetsuya. He chuckled at that thought. The light then changed, signalling that pedestrians could cross.

He continued his walk, bouncing his basketball until he got used to it again. There were times when it escaped and almost ended up in the road, but luckily his reflexes were somewhat still intact. Before he knew it, he was back at the street court that he had met Tetsuya and his 'brothers'. He couldn't help but smile, as he was going to be playing basketball... _with_ Tetsuya no less. He'd seen his play style twice now, and he was still amazed. He's never met a player like that before, and he wondered how it would feel on the receiving end of those awesome passes.

He entered the court, and started dribbling. He started with the different heights dribble, as this was what he and Kotarou had went through yesterday. But the moment he started, he heard a voice behind him.

"Shige-chan!"

He slowly turned around. He knew that voice, even though they've only met yesterday for the first time. "Kazunari-kun," he greeted. Yes, he'd gotten permission from the raven-haired to address him by his first name.

"You're here early." Yukio gave him a knowing smirk. "I didn't know that you were so eager."

"Well, it is basketball."

"Good. Keep that zealous attitude." Kotarou started. He then took the ball from Shige and started to dribble on the spot. The others had gone to different sides of the court, doing their own thing. Kazunari was with Tetsuya, teaching him how to handle the ball better. In their match yesterday, when Tetsuya had tried to hold the ball and move around him, he saw that his ball handling skills were atrocious. He couldn't let Tetsuya continue to live like that. Shouichi and Yukio were across from them, playing one-on-one.

"I'm going to improve your dribbling and in doing so, it'll automatically improve your ball handling. It's killing two birds with one stone!" Kotarou grinned. "So I'm going to make sure you and the ball become best friends once again."

"Well, my skills were good."

"Were? Good?" Kotarou started shaking his head. "This is RimFire, those words don't apply here. I'll make you exceptional. Then we'll move up to awesome."

"Thanks." Shige could only manage. He started fretting as he knew that he was going to die. If he and Shouichi were so brutal yesterday and it wasn't that long of a time they spent, he really had a feeling this time it's going to be worst.

"Let's begin." he smirked. With a gulp, Shige nodded.

Kotarou then dribbled the ball hard, but not as hard as yesterday, much to Shige's relief. Then, with one dribble, he passed Shige on his right. "One thing about dribbling, you dribble the ball hard. The harder the dribble, the faster the ball returns to your hand." Kotarou said. "If you can do that, ordinary defenders won't stand a chance."

"Right." Shige nodded.

"Another thing is that to get your dribble to work, you need to improve your feet. In fact, dribbling just keeps the defenders occupied, it's your feet that get you away from them."

"At least I knew that much." Shige said with relief.

"Good." Kotarou then threw the ball at the boy, and right after, he went into a defensive stance. Shige made a step backwards as the pressure emitted by the blond was terrifying. But, he then bounced the ball once, while doing this he was looking for an opening in Kotarou's defense. Sadly, there was none.

"What are you waiting for Shige?" Kotarou then said. "The longer you hold the ball, the opponent's defenders will be able to steal it from you."

"I know that! But I can't ―"

"Of course you can." Kotarou smiled. "Be creative. When you do that, just think about how you would use a dribble in a specific situation. It doesn't have to be the standard as basketball dictates, but what you can do." Kotarou then continued, "take for instance, my lightning dribble. When I'm in a certain situation, I can chose to combine it with another dribble, such as the hesitation, or the different heights. Fufu," he then crackled, "That way, defenders don't know what hit them!" the way he said the latter part, made him sound somewhat evil.

That seemed to have brightened Shige's mood a bit. With an inhale, he bounced the ball faster and harder this time, and made a step forward. He then made a right to left crossover in which Kotarou followed, but in the instant he'd done so, Shige had then bounced the ball to the opposite side, and quickly made a step in that direction. This had caught Kotarou off-guard, so he applauded the brunet for that effort.

When Shige had grabbed the ball, he dashed pass Kotarou and made a beeline for the net. However, he was still rusty. Within a blink, Kotarou had reached in front of him, once more blocking his path.

"I must say, what you did earlier was splendid," he started, "but try know that it won't work a second time against me."

"Alright, bring it on!" Shige said. For some reason, he was pumped up.

Thus, their session continued with Shige trying his best to pass Kotarou...which, sadly, failed miserably. But the upside was that Shige's dribbling was improving. Due to Kotarou constantly trying to swipe the ball from the boy, he has to be thinking about a dribble that would get past the blond and one that would keep the ball away from him. Seeing this, Kotarou had inwardly grinned; the plan was progressing smoothly.

After couple more minutes had passed, Kotarou then took their session up a notch. This time, he decided to go into the dribbling styles and techniques. Continuing from yesterday, he went further into the different heights dribble, having Shige test it out against him many times until the boy got the hang of it. After that, Kotarou then changed the dribble to the hesitation. Shige had catch onto this quite quickly, but at one point, Kotarou felt mischievous and decided to mix his lightning dribble with it like he'd done in street competitions. It had Shige for a loop, and when he saw that it was a lost cause against the boy, Kotarou ceased, even though Shige was adamant that he could stop him at least once.

xxxx

Kotarou and Shige sat on the ground, the latter panting extremely heavily. It seemed that his skills aren't the only things that need improving. His stamina needs a whole lot of work. That means, he'll have to do some morning exercises. He groaned aloud. The others had then made their way over, they too were panting and sweating. Yukio and Shouichi sweated the most, since they had been playing their one-on-one. Tetsuya and Kazunari only looked slightly tired.

"What's the problem, Shige?" Kotarou asked after taking notice of how destroyed the boy looked.

"I...need to get...back my stamina." Shige panted. "I...feel like...I'm going to collapse."

"Well, that's easy to do." Kazunari said. "Within the blink of an eye, you'll get back to normal. Both stamina and skills."

"Easier said than done." Shige sighed. "Getting past Kotarou-san is mission impossible."

The boys then erupted with laughter, Shige's face was indeed priceless. Kotarou and Kazunari then threw an arm over his shoulder, saying something amidst their laugh. They then fell into chatter, getting to know Shige better and for Shige to get to know them better.

Shige was the one who started first, and the very first thing he talked about was how he met Tetsuya. But, the others had already known this story, since they had seen his picture and hounded Tetsuya about it. Shige then continued to talk about how he started playing basketball, and how he eventually became the ace of Meiko. But in doing so, he ended up telling them reason he quit basketball, and all about Teikou's dreadful massacre.

Shige didn't mean to darken the mood, so to lighten it up, they talked about their likes and dislikes, how they had all met each other; to Shige, the funniest yet saddest case was Yukio and Shouichi's. Since Yukio had gotten lost at the age of eight in Osaka. Kotarou and Kazunari spilled their childhood experiences, seeming to show off that they had had a blast when they were younger. Tetsuya then spoke on how he met Kazunari, Shige was stunned. They hadn't met under pleasant circumstances, but they managed to become good friends.

Then they talked about their adventures as RimFire. Shige was completely lost, as since he had totally tuned out the basketball world ever since middle school. But he was both happy and worried as even though he gets to play again with Tetsuya this time, but they were undefeated in street ball. He'd have to improve a whole lot to be able to play in their standard. He was taken out of his thoughts when he heard a car's horn honking consistently. When the boys saw it, they had sprang to their feet, and dashed towards it, leaving Shige sitting and looking with a confused expression.

When the driver had emerged, Shige then realized that it was the man who had dropped him home yesterday, the same one that was with the boys as well. _Tanaka-san, was it?_ He kept in his spot and watched as the boys then made their way to the back door, and opened it. He saw Kotarou and Kazunari grinning like children, strangely, Tetsuya was rubbing his hands in a sinister way. Shouichi only stood there laughing while Yukio was trying to get them to stop. After failing, Shige then saw Tetsuya enter the car, followed by Yukio and the two boys pulled out _something._ He couldn't see the contents of it as the others had crowded around. But what he could make out was that it was a long aluminum tray, with what seemed to be plastic over the top. They then made their way over to him with it, while Shouichi, Kotarou went around to the trunk, opened it and took out an orange igloo. Kazunari had then took some plastic plates and cups still sealed.

Then Shige saw the man enter the car and drove off. He knew for a fact that that man wasn't Tetsuya's father, as he's met both of the blue-haired teen's parents when they were younger. He then looked at the other boys and couldn't see the resemblance.

"Well, lunch is here." Yukio said as he and Tetsuya then put down the tray. It had different types of sandwiches. Shouichi and Kotarou then arrived the igloo, and placed it gingerly on the floor, Kazunari had then placed the plates and the cups on top.

"That guy was Tanaka-san, right?" Shige then asked. "Is he related to either of you?"

"Yes, he is." Kazunari said answering the first part of Shige's question.

"And no, he's not." Kotarou said, answering the latter part of the question.

"He's our landlord." Tetsuya said. "He feeds us well." the others then nodded their heads with vigor, showing some sort of strong agreement with Tetsuya's statement. But, not even a second after, he saw their faces have a blissful expression. It resembled as though they were drunk, or whoozy, and Shige had to wonder, just what does Tanaka's food taste like to have them behaving like this.

"So Shige, what do you want to do?" Shouichi then asked after coming out of his bliss. "Eat first and then continue or the other way around?"

Shige paled. "Can't we eat in-between?" he then looked at the sandwiches, "There seemed to be a considerable amount. And then again, aren't you guys going to be killing me off today? I think I'll need energy to make through the day."

At that moment, Yukio, Shouichi, and Kotarou grinned deviously.

"Alright. Let's do that." Tetsuya then said.

xxxx

After they had finished their first round of snacks, Shige and Yukio had set out to the court this time. The others were engaged in a two-on-two at the other half of the court. From what he's heard about their stories as RimFire, he knew that Yukio was a point guard. Which meant, his ball handling is supposed to be far better than Kotarou's. But then again, Kotarou names himself as the 'Dribble King', he has to be exceptionally good in ball handling to be able to dribble so amazingly.

"So, I'll be picking up from where Kotarou left off."

"Dribbling?"

"Well, ball handling, but we'll still be dribbling somewhat." the older boy shrugged. He then passed the ball to Shige. "Show me how you hold the ball when dribbling."

"Hmm, like so." As Shige bounced the ball, his right seemed to grasping the ball as though he doesn't want to let go.

"Okay," Yukio said, however, the way in which he could gave Shige the feeling that he was doing something wrong. "Now, get around me. You don't need anything fancy. I won't be moving, I just want to see what your hands look like."

Shige sighed a relief. He then made a simple crossover with the ball and passed Yukio. The moment he reached Yukio's back, the other boy had turned, looking keenly on his hands.

"First thing," Yukio started. "You hold the ball as though you don't want to let go."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Yes. Sure, you don't want defenders to steal it from you, but with such an iron grip, it makes it harder for you to control the ball." Shige raised an eyebrow at this, lost as to what Yukio was talking about. "You're gripping the ball too tight. That way, when you want to control the ball, you're using your palm instead. That's a no-no."

"Oh,"

"Use your fingertips to control the ball. It makes it easier to move, to control." Yukio then beckoned for the ball, in which Shige gave him without hesitation. "Look," Yukio then dribbled the ball like Shige had not too long ago, and then attempted a crossover. It was then that Shige realized something that he didn't when he was doing. In order to do the crossover, because he was using his palm, he had to slightly shift hand to a different area on the ball to get it at the angle for the crossover.

"Now watch," Yukio dribbled the ball and went into the same position as before. He then executed the crossover, but due to him using his fingers, it was easily pushed into the direction the boy wanted. "Do you see the difference?" Yukio then asked.

"Clearly," Shige responded.

"Then let's go."

And thus, Shige's session with Yukio entailed him using his fingers to get the ball under control. Once more, Shige got this down fairly quickly, Yukio and the others were quite relieved that he was already familiar with basketball. Within couple minutes, they had taken yet another break, Shige once more felt like he was collapsing.

They ate some more of the sandwiches, and rehydrated themselves with the sport drink from the igloo. However, it was then that Shige saw a different side of the boys. The sandwiches were organized in rows, and in each row there was one type. One row was completely empty and that was the cheese sandwiches. The row beside had only one remaining, and that was the ham-and-cheese row. He saw all their hands swipe down at the lone sandwich. The glares they sent in each other's direction was frightening, even more so Tetsuya's face was appalling for Shige.

"If you continue to hold onto this sandwich, you will be cursed with the fate of inescapable death." Tetsuya seethed. Shige did a spit-take. He looked at Tetsuya with widened eyes, and saw that the boy seemed as though he really was scheming their deaths.

"Please, this sandwich belongs to me. Do I need to make myself clear?" Shouichi had then said. His glasses were glinting dangerously in the sunlight, he smirk he had on his face was diabolical.

"Stop spewing rubbish, both of you." Kotarou then said. "Just surrender this sandwich! If not, you'll face the wrath of the Lightning God!"

"God of Lightning? Sandwich belongs to you? Inescapable death?" Kazunari chuckled darkly. "I don't need to tell you what's going to happen if you don't relinquish your hold of this sandwich." Shige flinched when he saw Kazunari's face. He was scary!

"You peasants," Yukio spat. Shige was already getting chills and he knew that Yukio wasn't even done. "You'll be having mortifying nightmares if you don't let it go." Seeing Yukio's face, Shige's face became as white as a sheet, it even seemed as though his soul left his body. Yukio was the scariest of them all. With his darkened face and snarling tone, he reminded Shige of an evil Overlord he watched in anime.

 _What have I gotten myself into?_ Shige thought gravely. He was surprised that they could all hold out against each other's threats so well. But then, he was taken out of his thoughts as he heard shouting.

They were fighting over the sandwich now.

In Shige's eyes, they looked like a pack of wolves ripping each other apart. Yukio's hand was pressed up against Shouichi's face and pushing him down to the ground, but the bespectacled boy, had a foot in Yukio's face, and his free hand was grasping frantically at Kotarou's shirt collar, seeming as though he was trying to choke him. But, since Kotarou couldn't move, he latched his feet around Kazunari's face so that he couldn't move as well, Kazunari having Tetsuya in a headlock. Shige bust out a laughter when he saw Tetsuya bit into Kazunari's hand and he let out a howl in pain.

But that didn't save the boy. Kazunari, just like the others were determined to keep their enemy in place.

Then tragedy struck.

A bird, swooped down, and out of the other sandwiches that it could have taken, it took the ham-and-cheese one that the boys were fighting over. When it flew off, the boys were consumed by anger, and immediately released each other. They then looked frantically about the court for any signs of a stone, so as to take down that bird. But no such luck.

They then sat down in sadness and anguish. They seemed so defeated, it was as though they ended up becoming depressed, despondent maybe.

"Umm guys," Shige started, trying to cheer them up. "It was just one sandwich. There's many more."

"Just a sandwich?" Shouichi started. "How could you! It was Tanaka-san's ham-and-cheese! _Ham-and-cheese_!" he emphasize the latter way too much.

"Do you know the heavenly goodness that is Tanaka-san's cooking?!" Kotarou joined. " _Do you?!"_

"Well, yes, these sandwiches really are tasty." Shige wasn't lying. From their first snack break, he had realized that these were no ordinary sandwiches. They were made with such beauty, that he couldn't even find the word to describe the tastiness. "But isn't as though you hadn't eaten the ham-and-cheese sandwich before. You had tons. Just relax ―" he broke off after seeing looks he was getting. "You aren't going to murder me, right?" he said nervously. Judging by their actions earlier, he wouldn't put it pass them to actually execute his death.

"No..." they responded in a small voice, making Shige think otherwise.

After what seemed to be an eternity, they then calmed down, Shige being extremely happy. They were far too scary not too long ago. Shige had then headed out onto the court this time, as they were all discussing something that didn't him around. After a minute or so, Shouichi then went over to where he was and took the ball from him.

"Am I going to be blocking your shots again?"

"Nope." Shouichi answered swiftly. "You're going to be making them. Threes, lay-ups, banks, you name it. I'll just be watching to see where you need to fix."

"I see."

"Now get started." He threw the ball back to the boy and watched him as he got into position. Shige had decided to try to and make the threes the first. It's been a while since he's done this, and wondered if he still had it within him. But then again, there were times when he needed to make a three but failed during a competition. That horrid moment in the finals in middle school came back. But deciding to move on, and forget that past, he bent his knees and straightened.

"Hold on." Shouichi's voice made him pause. "You're too tense. Threes need a delicate touch. If you're overexcited you know they aren't going to go in. And we aren't good with rebounds."

Shige then looked around at them. He was the tallest of the bunch. Strangely. He was even taller than the two third-years.

"Get shooting, Shige." Shouichi said once more to take him out his thoughts.

"Hai!" Bending his knees and straightening once again, Shige then released the ball. The ball arched neatly in the air, but it was obvious to Shouichi that it wouldn't go in. Just as he thought, the ball bounced off the rim of the net. "Damn, so close." Shige muttered.

"Let's go again." Shouichi said. "You were really close."

"Alright."

This was just the start of Shige's session with Shouichi. He made threes until he was sick of it, but so far, so steady. Out of every ten three-pointer he made, roughly four went in. Shouichi felt that it was enough for now, being that he and Yukio were specialized in sinking threes. He didn't want to pressure him too much. The next thing that they did was make Shige do lay-ups. Sure, it was an easy thing to do, but Shouichi had acted like a defender this time. This made Shige put what he learnt from Yukio and Kotarou to practice and well, luckily, it payed off. There were times when he was able to keep the ball within in his hold, and get around Shouichi with just one dribble.

After that, they then moved onto the bank shot and slam dunks which, took no time at all. Since Shige was getting more fired up than before, he made these with ease. And thus, concluded the session with Shouichi.

"Shige-chan!" Kazunari said as he dashed towards him, and then enveloping him into a hug. "You're doing great! I told you that you'll be back in shape in no-time."

"Just work on that stamina," Tetsuya said. "You look like you're about to fall over."

"That's exactly how I feel." Shige chuckled.

"Now that we're done..." Kotarou started "...let's eat!"

The boys then dashed off towards the bench where they had placed it, shouting as they went along.

"I call dibs on the chicken sandwiches!" Kazunari shouted.

"Hell no! They're mine!" Kotarou disagreed.

"Do what you want," Shouichi started, "but the tuna belong to me!"

"Leave some for me!" Tetsuya sounded as though he was pleading.

"Ha! You fools!" Yukio laughed. He was the only one in front. "The entire tray is mine!"

"No, Yuki!",

"That's cruel,Yu-chan!",

"Sharing is caring, Yukio!",

"Don't make your little brother starve, Yukio-nii!"

Shige could only look on and laughed. "Man, they're _something_ else."

 


	14. Chapter 14

 ...

...

 

On Sunday, they continued to help Shige return to form, this time the boy was a little bit better than Saturday. He managed to stop Kotarou only twice, but the thing was, he wasn't using his lightning dribble. With Shouichi, he managed to block his threes twice as well, his double clutch...not so much. When he was with Yukio, he found it hard to stop his full drive as the older boy was fast. He had figured that since he couldn't stop him he may as well try to knock the ball from his hands in a back-tip. The moment Shige turned to execute this action, Yukio had swiftly switched the ball hand.

But, even though he was overpowered by these three, he still had fun. Tetsuya and Kazunari were off doing their thing but there were times when they cheered him on. But that same day, before they had even finished, Shouichi's phone rang. When he saw the caller I.D, he put it on speaker and had the others gather around. The moment Tanaka started speaking, the boys sparkled with joy.

Their uniforms were complete.

In addition to that, there will be a competition the coming weekend on Saturday. Kotarou looked like he was about to faint from the happiness, Yukio and Shige had to keep him standing. Kazunari seemed to be tearing up, putting a hand over his eyes, his shoulders shaking. Tetsuya moved off beside him, his face as well was brimming with joy. Then, Tanaka had requested Shige's measurements, this prompted the boys to abandon the street court immediately (after taking up their belongings) and head home so that Tanaka could measure the boy.

By the time they had reached home, the moment they saw the uniforms, they had seemed to be drunk with joy. Incoherent sentences and phrases escaped their lips, but one thing Tanaka could make out: "Thank you!". He then proceeded to measure Shige, while the others had dashed up in the room. Kazunari had quickly booted up his laptop, not caring that it is very early morning in America.

When Tatsuya's face came on the screen, they hooted, frightening the black-haired boy.

"What's with the racket?" Tatsuya had asked.

"This!" Kotarou held up his uniform, with a broad grin. "It's ready and waiting Tatsu!"

"Wha..." Tatsuya was at a loss for words. The uniform that Kotarou held had the number nine on it, the number that he had chosen to wear as a part of RimFire. He had then wiped an imaginary tear, and seeing this, made him even more eager to return to Japan.

It was then that Tanaka had brought in Shige, and he was introduced to the other boy. At that moment, Shige found out (through dual-telling from Kotarou and Tatsuya) how they had became friends and played street ball together in America.

The school week began, and throughout, Shige was practicing with RimFire minus Kotarou. On Monday, he had practiced with all of them, but when Tuesday came around, only Shouichi and Kazunari were available; proficiency tests were coming up, Tetsuya and Yukio were both helping their aces to study which, sad to say, was a losing battle. Neither boy had no idea that their ace would be that stupid, for Tetsuya, when he had seen Kagami's English grade, he was stunned. For someone who lived in America, failing English should have been inconceivable. For Yukio, upon seeing the blond's midterms, he was so shocked that he was frozen stiff. But then again, when Shouichi had told him about Aomine's, it sort of had improved his mood.

By the time Wednesday came around, Shige had gotten his uniform, he tried it on at their house, so that if needs be, Tanaka could take it back for adjustments. But, the uniform fit the boy perfectly. Tears had welled in his eyes, as it has been a while since he had worn a jersey for basketball. Shouichi had taken a picture of him and sent it off to Yukio and Tetsuya who were off again, helping their aces.

On Thursday, everyone rejoiced, being that proficiency tests were over, and they could resume their normal lives. Yukio and Tetsuya however, looked exhausted and when Kazunari had asked them about it, they replied:

"Kise was a hard nut to crack. It took me, Moriyama and Nakamura. Thank God we were able to whip him into shape quickly."

"Please, you shouldn't be complaining. It took six of us, including me to tame that tiger." Tetsuya had rolled his eyes. "Tell me, how is possible for someone who lived in America to fail English?"

"That's a question for the gods, Tetsu-chan." Kazunari chuckled. "You can't ask mere mortals like us."

"Damn right." Yukio chuckled.

It was now Friday, and RimFire was in high spirits. Saturday was the competition. Saturday would mark Shige's debut. By the time they reached home, they hadn't even bothered to take off their uniforms, they just sat in the living room and awaited Kotarou's arrival. The hyperactive blond had come in the late evening as usual, and thus, they headed out to the street court with Tanaka.

Shige was already there waiting, but they sprang a surprise on the unsuspecting boy.

"We're going to be playing three-on-three." Shouichi started. "It's me, Kotarou and Tetsuya on one team."

That only left Yukio, Kazunari and him on the other. He blanched. He found it strange, that he was excited for the competition, but was nervous to play a simple three-on-three against RimFire.

Tanaka had then walked up to the boys, and they assumed their positions. He then threw the ball in the air for tip-off.

_xxxx_

The park was bustling with life, as teenagers and youths from all walks of life had assembled here. Tanaka had driven the boys to the venue, and swiftly, they had exited and went to sign up. They were dressed normally, jeans and t-shirt. They planned to drop that surprise for when they would start their matches. Once again, Kotarou and Kazunari were ecstatic, eager that they'll get to showcase their uniforms.

After signing up, Shige got a shock of his life. They were the first match. Apparently, after hearing the discussions of the others, he realized that this was the first time that they'll be match one. They then headed back to the car, after which, they went to the nearest bathroom to change.

"Don't worry Shige-chan," Kazunari had started. He was tucking his shirt into his shorts. "It'll go just fine."

"It's just a basketball match," Yukio joined in as he tied his shoe laces. "Remember that we're with you."

"So prepare yourself to have fun, Shige." Shouichi smiled.

"I will try my best."

When they were done changing, Tanaka decided to take a group picture, happy to see his boys in their uniforms. Yukio wore number four, Shouichi had five, Kazunari wore number six, Kotarou was seven, Tetsuya was eight, Shige was ten. After what seemed to be minutes of picture taking, Tanaka checked his time and sent them off to the street court.

The moment they made their way through, the crowd created an uproar upon seeing the six boys. Not only did they stick out, their uniform was quite the sight. Cameras flashed every second, Kotarou and Kazunari waving to the crowd like they were kings. They loved things like these. Yukio had a smile on his face, clearly he too was enjoying this, Shouichi having the pleasure to tease him about it later on. Shige looked a bit frightened but more so, nervous and it was Tetsuya who calmed him down.

"It's alright, Shige-kun." he had said. He had decided to call him that since the others were doing it. It would seem weird that everyone called him 'Shige' and his childhood friend called him 'Ogiwara'.

They then formed a circle facing each other. None of the boys were nervous, just Shige and so this pep talk was for him.

"Shige," Shouichi started. "As we have said before, you've got us. Don't panic or freak out. If you make a mistake, then so be it. We'll fix it later."

Shige nodded.

"And remember, even though you're a centre, you're still a small forward." Yukio started. "There are going to be times when it's okay if you play like a small forward instead of a centre. We all do it."

"Yep! I'm a small forward here, but I originally play point guard." Kazunari said. "Lots of times, I get the boys in order and coordinate with Yu-chan and Tetsu-chan. So what we're saying is that your play isn't restricted to that of a centre."

"You can say Kazu's a small guard." Kotarou joked.

"Alright, I feel much better now."

"Go burn up the court guys," Tetsuya smiled, making two fists in their direction. Everyone then made a fist bump with the blue-haired boy and headed out onto the court. Tetsuya then went to stand beside Tanaka, who had a camera in his hand, ready to video their match. RimFire's starters were everyone except Tetsuya, in his space was of course Shige. It was planned that he'd play for this entire match, to warm him up.

The opposing team came out, and instead of looking intimidating and oppressive, they were actually admiring them. This relieved Shige's mood as well. But then, he saw the others walk up to them and started exchanging words and laughing and such. The opposing team wore matching blue T-shirts and black pants.

"You've gotten a new player?" Shige turned his head in the direction of the one who spoke. He had a fair height, but his hair was hidden by a blue tam.

"Yeah, he's new." Kotarou answered. "You should feel lucky, Tetsu's not playing." he then smirked.

"Lucky? I think it's more like blessed. I can still remember the first time we encountered you guys." Shige saw the boy shudder with a pale look on his face.

_They're that dangerous other teams are shivering just from remembering a match they had?!_

It was then that the referee had blown his whistle, signalling that they should line up to bow. When the teams were in order, he then announced, "Let the first match between RimFire and Blue Danger begin!"

"Thank you very much!"

The players then got in positions for the tip-off, Shige and Fuse faced off. Even though Fuse was taller than him, there wasn't that much of a difference. The referee then threw the ball in the air for the tip-off, the two centres jumping for it.

The players watched with bated breaths as the two pair of hands touched the ball. However, Fuse still managed to get it to Yonebayashi. But, before he could even do anything more, Yukio was already blocking his path. Even though Tetsuya's not playing, Blue Danger was still at a disadvantage. They had made plans for the phantom in hopes that it would have worked, but since he isn't playing, each player has to be thinking up something different. And then there's Shige. The unknown element that none of them know.

Yonebayashi tsk'ed' at this, and then scanned around to see his available options. One thing he was glad for, at least he can see all the players of RimFire. But the sad part was, most of his players were heavily guarded. Shouichi, like before, was on Yamamoto, Kotarou was on Tachibana, Shige was by the net with Fuse. Kazunari and Moritaka were the only ones free for either team.

Yonebayashi had then thought of passing to Tachibana with the overhead throw, but he was too close to Shige and Fuse. With RimFire, anything could happen, and maybe Shige could intercept the ball and pass it to his teammate. Just then, he saw Kazunari move in his direction, and having a feeling of what would happen, he bounced the ball to Yamamoto. Instead of passing the ball to Moritaka who was closer, he knew that Kotarou was far too swift.

But Yonebayashi failed to see the smile on Yukio's face. The moment Yamamoto had shifted his position to receive the ball, he noticed something. Shouichi had switched markers with Shige, and it was now Shige blocking his path. However, Yamamoto still straightened for a shot, but when he released the ball, Shige slammed it down onto the ground, and as swiftly as possible, Kazunari snatched it and made for Blue Danger's net.

By the time Kazunari was at the centre circle, he then bounced it to Yukio, who dribbled twice before chest passing it to Shouichi. The bespectacled teen seemed to have had the intention to make a three and that's when Fuse went up to block. But in that moment, Kotarou had dashed past, and in doing so, Shouichi released the ball with a bounce to the blond. It bounced right into his palm, he then headed towards the net and made a layup.

"Nice pass, Shou-nii!" Kotarou teased.

"Don't call me that!" Shouichi retorted. "Only Tetsuya is allowed to!"

"Meh, don't be such a spoil-sport, _Shou-nii._ " Yukio joined with a snicker.

Shige, on the other hand was amazed. Their teamwork was really solid, to him, it seemed as though they could read each other's minds or something. "That pass to Kotarou-san..." he trailed off. It was truly an amazing feat, the timing in which he had to get it right, and it had to meet Kotarou's palms with precision...Shige was awestruck.

"Oi, why do you look so spaced-out?" Kotarou said pat him on the shoulder. "It was a nice block you did back there."

"Oh, thanks." Shige replied. "But, I was just wondering how did Shouichi-san managed to get the ball to you like that?"

Kotarou laughed. "Well, Shouichi is originally a point guard, and well, Tetsu's on our team. Of course he'd pick up something from our beloved little brother."

"I see." Shige still found it a bit amusing that they all refer to each other as brothers.

"What are you two chatting about?!" Yukio barked at them. "Defense! They're coming!"

RimFire then got into their respective positions, as usual, Yukio was at the top of the circle facing off with Yonebayashi. At the left and right wings, there were Shouichi and Kotarou with Yamamoto and Tachibana, within the paint was Kazunari and by the net was Shige. Fuse and Moritaka were behind Yonebayashi.

But then, those two dashed off in both directions (left and right), seeming as though they wanted to go around Shouichi and Kotarou to end up on the inside with Kazunari and Shige. RimFire picked up on this act, so Shouichi and Kotarou tried to shift their positions, but Yamamoto and Tachibana kept them still. By the time Fuse reached in the paint area, Yonebayashi then made an overhead pass to him. Moritaka had blocked Kazunari so that he couldn't do anything that may help Shige.

However, the new recruit then moved closer to Fuse, who seemed to be stalling, glancing left and right. The moment Shige inched closer and tried to steal the ball, Fuse had to changed the ball hand to the one furthest away from Shige, but close to Moritaka's back. The Hawk-eyed player wanted to grin. But if he did, the opponents would know that something's up.

Shige then went for another steal which once more made Fuse switch the ball hand, but what no one seemed to noticed was that Kazunari was pressuring Moritaka, and in doing so, the two were actually inching closer to Fuse and Shige. Because Kazunari kept trying to go around Moritaka, the small forward has to constantly try to block him. But, that made him subconsciously step backwards, closer to the centres.

When the time was right, Shige then made another attempt at the steal, and timing it just right, when Fuse switched the ball hand, Kazunari made a dash pass Moritaka and knocked the ball from Fuse's hand and into Shige's. He then weaved around the cluster there, and made a dash down the court, Yukio being the closest to him since he wasn't in the bundle. He then bounced the ball to the point guard and continued for the net, and before he could realize, he heard the sounds of loud dribbling.

He then spun around to see Kotarou dribbling hard against Tachibana, and then within a flash, Kotarou broke past the taller youth. In that moment, Kazunari had set up a screen so that Tachibana couldn't follow immediately, Shouichi was busy with Fuse even though he was struggling a bit due to the youth's mass. Moritaka then took chase, but then, with a childish grin, Kotarou bounced the ball to Shige, surprising the centre.

"I don't need to tell you what you need to do, right?" he said with a wink.

And he didn't.

Shige spun on his right foot and made a dunk.

Once more, the crowd erupted into cheers and screams, the commentators playing a part in that. But Shige felt something surge within him. This feeling that he hadn't experienced since playing against Teikou felt so foreign to him that he almost tore up. This was joy...excitement. Just making that one basket made Shige the happiest boy right there. To think that he'd left basketball, swore to himself that he'd never play again, and develop some sort of hatred towards the sport...in that one instance, it all came back to him. He then looked across to where he'd last seen Tetsuya standing and mouthed a 'thank you' to him. Said boy couldn't understand the meaning for that, but smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"Shige-chan!" he was then brought back to reality by Kazunari. He saw the raven run towards him with a hand up, indicating that he wanted a high-five. "Good job!"

"Thanks," Shige replied, giving the boy the high-five he wanted.

"Man, you should have ripped the hoop from the backboard." Shouichi joined in.

"This is the first match! He can't do something like that yet!" Yukio countered.

"Yet?" Shige asked in bewilderment. "You really want me to do something like that?"

"Maybe." they replied with a shrug of their shoulders.

"But anyway, you've gotten into your groove now, right?" Kotarou smirked and nudged him in his side. "So, you can finally let loose on the court, and destroy your opponents! Block those shots! Get those rebounds! Make them tremble in fear at RimFire's newest addition!"

"Yeah!" strangely, Shige was getting fired up by that speech.

The game then restarted, everyone assuming their rightful positions. Kotarou had the biggest grin one could find, his eyes were locked on Tachibana. Remembering their first match against Blue Danger, Kotarou was especially pissed when they got by with their overhead passes just because they were taller. He made a vow this time, that he'll snatch those balls away from him. He looked across to Kazunari and saw the same intensity in his eyes. Looking at Shouichi and Yukio, he shivered as they had some sort of evil glint in their eyes.

"You poor souls." He said aloud. "You're in for something."

"Really now? They say revenge is a dish best served cold, you know." Tachibana smirked.

"Oh? It's us who should be saying that. You thought we have forgotten how you took advantage of the height difference and made us watched helplessly at how you received the balls?" Kotarou chuckled. "It's payback time, fella."

The instance that Kotarou said that, the ball was passed to Tachibana, and with a smirk he tried to get around Kotarou by doing a right to left crossover. He managed to get around the power forward, but the moment he'd done so, Kazunari came up and blocked it. That time, Kotarou back-tipped the ball, Yukio then running up to them and catching it.

"What?!" Tachibana shouted. "Couldn't you have done a simple double-team?! What's wrong with you?!"

"Nope. Simple doesn't apply to RimFire." he grinned. "And there's nothing wrong with us." Tachibana sighed.

Yukio had then made it close enough to Blue Danger's net, but then Moritaka came to block him. He then looked to his left and right and saw that Yamamoto and Fuse were heading in his direction. But then, he spotted Shige heading towards the net and decided to make a gamble. _If he catches it or doesn't, then so be it. The game is still young._ Yukio thought as he got into shooting position. Everyone was shocked by this action, but then blew it off as an improvement by Yukio. Before Yukio shot the ball, he made eye-contact with Shige, hoping that the boy would understand his intentions.

When he shot the ball, he was silently praying that Shige would manage to get the rebound, after all, he went through training for situations like these. The ball then bounced off the rim of the net, Shige reaching for it. But, then, he noticed that Fuse had come up as well. The two centres caught the ball and for a moment, time seemed to have stopped. The centres both had the ball, pushing against it with great force. Then, due to the amount of pressure, the ball flew upwards into the air, landing in the crowd.

"O-Out of bounds!" the referee then said. "White ball!" White here, referring to Blue Danger.

"Nice rebound, Shige." Yukio praised. "In all honesty, I took a gamble right there."

"Thanks."

But then, Yukio chuckled darkly, "You know what this means, right boys?"

"Of course," they all replied, a dark aura emanating from their bodies as they looked at Shige. The centre could only look on in fear, fretting about what they had planned for him. He then looked in Tetsuya's direction, he and Tanaka only gave him a thumbs up.

"Umm, guys," Shige then mustered up the courage to ask. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Dear Shige," Kazunari started. "We're going to milk you like a cow. Rebounds, blocks, everything that a centre does it'll be all you."

"Fufufu," Kotarou crackled. "It feels so good to finally have a centre." he then rubbed his hands together looking a bit sinister. "Let the revenge begin."

But somehow, even though they looked like that, a part of Shige felt as though with them, he could actually do the impossible.

When Tachibana received the ball to throw in, the moment Yonebayashi got it, Shige saw that there was something different about RimFire. They were more intense, more focused, and strangely, even so, they were smiling. Even Blue Danger were. They seemed like they were having fun, it was almost as though they weren't on the losing end of this game.

He then snapped back to reality in time to see Yonebayashi trying to get past Yukio but kept failing. Seeing his point guard's plight, Yamamoto then ran up behind Yukio and created a screen so that Yonebayashi could pass. The youth then quickly passed the ball to Tachibana who faced off with Kotarou, and not only Shige but everyone else there could see the sparks flying between the two already.

"Since I can't pay you back for your obnoxious dribble, I'll do it for that back-tip steal earlier."

"Okay, let's see what you've got, _Tachi_." Kotarou teased.

Tachibana twitched with irritation at the name. However, he recovered himself and started to dribble...using the different heights. Kotarou tsk'ed' at this, he absolutely hated that dribble. Even though he can do it as well, when it is being used against him, pisses him off to no end. Tachibana then made a left to right crossover, but Kotarou still managed to block him. He once more did it, but in this instance, he bounced the ball through Kotarou's legs and using the momentum from the crossover, he dashed around the startled boy, catching the ball.

But, Kotarou was not to be underestimated. Even though he got by him, he was fast enough to catch him back. It was now Tachibana's time to be startled. However, Yamamoto got away from Shouichi, going to Tachibana's aid. Seeing that the other boy was coming, Tachibana then passed the ball aerially to Yamamoto, who ended up catching it with ease. After two dribbles, he then made his way back to the three-point line, his other teammates keeping RimFire at bay. He then made his three, effortlessly.

"Damn, your height is unreasonable, you know." Kotarou said.

"Your dribbling is unreasonable. That's what." Tachibana countered.

The two then sent glares at each other, as if trying to send out a message. Blue Danger then got ready for RimFire's offense as they knew that they'd be determined to take back their three points.

And so it was.

Shige got a taste firsthand at how they play once they got into their gear, which was something quite scary. The pace of the game picked up quite significantly, Kotarou and Kazunari's combination left him in shock. These two would often time create screens for each other, and pass around the ball like they were playing ping-pong. At one time, Shige managed to catch Kazunari dribbling with the ball and the moment he'd encounter Moritaka, he swiftly passed the ball behind through his legs to Kotarou and continued to dash forward. The blond would then use his lightning dribble to get around Moritaka and pass back the ball to Kazunari who easily made a layup.

What is more, Yukio and Shouichi were not to be forgotten. Since Yukio was a seasoned point guard and well, he's been playing basketball with Shouichi from they were eight, their teamwork was flawless. Shige saw many outrageous passes heading to Shouichi's direction which he sunk with great ease. But aside from that, whenever Yukio felt like making threes himself, he was just as good as Shouichi.

But, Shige himself realizes that he too, was getting it in strides. Even though Kazunari said that they'll 'milk him like a cow', he didn't feel as pressured as he thought he would. He's blocked Yamamoto's threes, and surprisingly, he's managed to get offensive rebounds against Fuse. During that time, he deduced that he was just getting caught up in the pace of the game. There were also other instances where he was tasked with making a shot, even when the others could. Once, Kotarou was at the net and was making a double clutch, instead, he passed the ball to him and told him to slam it in. Of course, with the amount of adrenaline accumulated within his body, Shige did as he was told with much vigor, but frowned the moment he didn't rip the hoop from the backboard.

Still, ever so often, Shige would glance at Tetsuya and Tanaka, and see them cheering their asses off. Even though he couldn't hear Tetsuya's soft voice amongst the roaring crowd, he still felt happy that his childhood friend was cheering. With the game continuing, Shige realized that he was getting into the flow of this quite well, and made many assists. Since Kotarou plays the position closest to him, there were times when he'd assist the boy by screening out Tachibana so that he could make a shot.

But, Blue Danger were no pushover. They gave RimFire one hell of a time, Tachibana especially with Kotarou. For a time, they seemed to be at war with each other; whenever Tachibana made a shot, the next time, Kotarou did. In addition, they would try everything in their power to block each other, but of course, Tachibana couldn't defeat Kotarou's lightning dribble. Moritaka and Kazunari faced off against each other, but with his hawk-eyes, whenever Kazunari had the ball, Moritaka could never steal it. But, there are moments when Moritaka got around Kazunari and passed the ball to Yamamoto. Yonebayashi and Yukio were always keeping their boys in check, pointing them in the right direction and making plays for the team. And lastly, Fuse and Shige were always pushing against each other under the net and fighting for rebounds.

The progressed speedily, baskets were made for each team, the defense was steadily trying to prevent baskets, which was often time successful. Soon, the match neared its closing, RimFire leading on twenty points with Blue Danger on nineteen.

The crowd roared shouting both teams' names, either team needing a basket to win, in this case, Blue Danger needed to make a three. But, things weren't in their favour. It was RimFire's possession, Kotarou had the ball and was up against Tachibana. However, seeing that things were like this, Fuse came up to double team the boy, preventing him from passing. Still, that didn't stop him. He dribbled the ball loudly, and neither boy could stop it. He then bounced it through Tachibana's legs towards Shige, who was startled. But, he quickly recovered and made a layup before anyone could stop him.

The referee then blew his whistle. "Game over!"

The players then assembled together after which the referee continued, "twenty-two to nineteen, RimFire!"

"Thank you very much!"

The rest of RimFire's matches went on without hitch, in Round two, Tetsuya played instead of Shige. During that time, he realized that with Tetsuya on the court, they were far more dangerous. His passes are unpredictable and amazing, and to Shige, the way how he steals the ball with such ease, it seems as though he marks the ball and not a player. In that round, RimFire demolished their opponents, however, Shige noticed that afterwards, they seem to be giving them advice. Shige's heart warmed at this, and loved the fact that they weren't savage monsters.

"If only Teikou was like that." He sighed.

Tanaka looked at him and smiled. "Not everyone is going to be what you wish, Shige-kun. That's the sad fact."

"Yeah, right."

After that match, it was the semi-finals, and Shige's turn to play. He was ecstatic, but then, wondered if he'd ever experience playing _with_ Tetsuya. He was mesmerized by those passes, and found himself yearning to be on the receiving end of them at least once. But anyway, he stepped onto the court, ready to topple the opponents with the others. This time, they faced a team called SkyScraper, which once again, RimFire has beaten before. This team was normal, regular height for basketballers and somehow, Shige was glad for that. He remembered Blue Danger's Fuse and shivered, that guy was way too big for his (assumed) age.

The moment the match started, both teams got into their groove quite quickly, for Shige, he found it odd that throughout the match, there seem to be some friendly rivalry going on. He's seen Kotarou and Power Foward seem like they're having a glare-off every time they come in close contact with each other, but another time, they're exchanging high-fives and such. Another time, he's seeing Yukio seemingly reprimanding Point Guard for a mistake that 'he shouldn't have made'. Shouichi, too, was praising Shooting Guard's threes. Kazunari and Small Forward were conversing often times about their energetic power forwards and God knows what else.

But as the match progressed, Shige learned and realized that SkyScraper weren't so bad after all, even he sometimes, talks to their Centre. But, in the end, RimFire came out on top, both teams were laughing and chatting together at the end.

They were then given a break before the finals, Tanaka gave them some sports drink and some buns to eat. He couldn't give them anything heavy as they may end up throwing up on the court. After the break was over, they then returned to the court for the finals, once more, RimFire's starters was everyone except Tetsuya. The opposing team came out, and immediately Shige's eyes widened. The aura around them were menacing, and the smug looks on their faces made them seem like they were oozing with pride. Worst of all, no one cheered for them. They were RimFire's final opponents the Fiery Beasts.

"Ara, what do we have here?" the one in the front started as he looked at them. He had dyed red hair and a scary looking face. "The undefeated kings of street ball are even in uniforms. You sure take this seriously." he then chuckled. "Your so-called title will be taken by us today."

But, none of RimFire's players said anything. When Shige looked at their faces, he saw that they were blank and expressionless, seeming to resemble Tetsuya's usual deadpan look. But when he looked in the crowd at Tetsuya, he saw that he was seething with rage. Tanaka looked as though he wanted to rip them limb from limb.

 _How ironic it is that Tetsuya who's usually stoic in every situation is showing emotions and the others who are expressive are completely stoic right now._ Shige thought. He almost wanted to chuckle, but with them before RimFire, he didn't want to seem as though he was acknowledging their presence.

"Whatever!" the redhead said as he walked away. He was pretty upset that neither boy had replied to him. He went back over to his team and RimFire (along with everyone else) were appalled at how the players looked.

"Oh my God, he's _disgusting._ " Yukio spat, looking at the player that was beside the redhead. "How does his parents bear looking at him?" He had countless piercings in his face, about three on each sides of his nose bridge, about two on his lower lip, and from the top of both his ears down to the lobe had piercings.

"Now you know who listens to too much gothic rock." Kotarou joked. But even so, there was no such amusement in his face nor on his face. He looked dead serious.

"And look at that one. He's got tattoos all over." Kazunari pointed out. That one was one of the taller ones there.

"At least one looks tolerable. He only has red highlights in his hair." Shouichi said, looking at another. "But either way, they piss me off." he seethed. "Let's show them who's the fiery one on this court." he then grinned evilly.

"And why they shouldn't play with RimFire." Yukio said.

In the instance he said so; the referee blew his whistle indicating that the players should assemble. When they had all gathered at the centre circle, everyone could feel and see the threatening aura coming from RimFire. It was going to be a nasty match, and Tetsuya was just itching for when it was his time to be subbed on.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The street team "Fiery Beasts" are labelled as:  
>  _Armband_ (because he wears one), _Highlights_ (it's in his hair), _Tattoos_ , _Piercings_ , _Redhead_.

...

...

 

 

The players got into their positions, the referee then threw the ball in the air for tip-off. Both Shige and Armband jumped for it, their arms stretching. But, Shige was determined to get the ball, as one, he was pissed at what they said. He hadn't been in RimFire for long, but he knew that what they said was wrong. Add to that, Tetsuya is a part of it. No one is allowed to look down on his childhood friend. As both their fingers came close to it, the ball was then knocked straight into Yukio's waiting arms, and without hitch, he dashed off towards Fiery Beasts' net.

Redhead then came up to block him, but in the moment he'd done so, Yukio bounced the ball to Kotarou who swiftly chest passed it to Shouichi. Wanting to demolish them as soon as the game starts, he made his three, sending a nasty smirk into Piercings' direction. Then, they headed back to defend, preparing for the Beasts' attack. Their faces were laced with confusion, but RimFire knew that they haven't been confused yet.

"Fufufu, wait until Tetsuya comes in." Kotarou chuckled to himself.

Redhead had the ball and was behind the other players, and looking at his actions, they could deduce that he was the point guard. He pointed in the direction in which the others should head, Piercings went into Kotarou's direction, Armband went to Shouichi, Highlights headed into Kazunari's direction, Tattoos stayed with Redhead on his right. But, to everyone who saw that, they could see that the Beasts were trying to stop RimFire's threes. But little did they know…

Redhead and Tattoos came up to Yukio, and seeing this, Shige had motioned to assist but catching his movements, Yukio indicated that he should stay put at the net. Tattoos then made a dash past Yukio while Redhead kept him busy, and then passed the ball to the youth. He then continued to thunder towards their net, his fellow teammates pressing up against RimFire making them unable to move as swiftly as they could. The only one free was Shige, so he stayed put by the net.

He had then made eye-contact with Kazunari and Kotarou; Shouichi, for some strange reason, couldn't stop smiling scarily. When Tattoos reached the net, Shige blocked his path, making the youth pause before him. Tattoos then looked around to see if there was a possible pass course, but due to them guarding RimFire, he couldn't. The only option left was for him to make the shot himself. He then made a right to left crossover, and attempted to pass Shige on his right, which was successful but as soon as it seemed as though he was going for a dunk, Shige jumped and knocked the ball from his hands.

The ball bounced in Kazunari's direction, and due to his position, Highlights couldn't have caught it as he would have had to turn his back to the raven-haired boy. Quickly, Kazunari caught the ball and headed towards the net with a huge grin on his face. Behind him were Yukio and Shige, across from him was Shouichi and in front was Kotarou. However, the Beasts were fast. Piercings had dashed past Yukio and Shige in an attempt to halt Kotarou's advancement. But with his eyes, Kazunari had seen this fella coming, so he had passed the ball quickly to his best friend.

"He's coming!" Kazunari shouted as he passed the ball.

"Thanks!" Kotarou said as he received the ball.

The blond slowed his movements, and by doing so, the others of RimFire slowed as well. Yukio had indicated to Shige that he should head towards the net, while the others went into their various positions.

By this time, Piercings had caught up with Kotarou and so too did the rest of the Beasts. Piercings' face was full of determination as he tried to stop Kotarou in his tracks. With a smirk, Kotarou bounced the ball normally and looked around at where the rest of his teammates were. It was then that he saw Shige run past him with Tattoos behind him and the two went to settle under the net. Shouichi was in his usual spot with Armband blocking his path, Yukio was by the top of the circle with Redhead, and Kazunari was by the left wing with Highlights.

"I'm not letting you go, brat." Piercings hissed with anger.

"As if I'd let you stop me." Kotarou said. "But I guess three will be enough for now, right?"

"What?"

Then, a loud dribble sounded, the Beasts twitched at the sound. Everyone who knew RimFire, knew what this extremely loud dribble meant. Kotarou dribbled the ball a second time, to the Beasts it seemed to be getting louder. And then the third dribble. But, Piercings had realized that the more Kotarou dribbled, the less of the ball he was seeing. It was then that the ball completely vanished from his eyes, and Kotarou had dashed past, a look of triumph on his face.

He then headed towards Shige and Tattoos, in which the brown haired boy was trying everything to get Tattoos out of a good position. It was working, since their centre was marking Shouichi. With gritted teeth, Tattoos tried to push against Shige, causing the boy to lose balance for a moment. Luckily, he regained it and in time as Kotarou and Piercings had reached. The blond then jumped to make a shot, so too did Piercings but in that instance, Kotarou used his double clutch. In mid-air, the boy switched the ball hand and made a swift dunk.

Cheers rang out both on the court and in the crowd, but the Beasts were furious. RimFire were ahead and they have yet to score. They were pissed indeed. When they had regrouped, Redhead started to speak,

"They need to be stopped." he seethed.

"That blond's dribble is infuriating." Piercings said. "Who dribbles that loud anyway? It's fucking annoying."

"I think we need to switch marks," Tattoos said to Armband. "I can't deal with their centre. I'll handle their shooting guard."

"Fine by me." Armband shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't care what you want to do." Redhead said. "As long as you take them _down._ I'll deal with their fiesty point guard."

And thus, the Fiery Beasts restarted, Tattoos and Armband switching markers, not that RimFire minded. But it was then that the trouble started. At the top of the circle like always, there was Yukio and Redhead, Yukio's defense was not permitting Redhead to pass or even pass the ball to his teammates. Redhead then glanced around, but instead of looking at his teammates, he was looking at where the referee was. When he spotted the man, he then shifted his angle, so that only his right side could be seen.

With a smirk he then made a drive for the net, but in doing so, he jabbed Yukio in his ribs with his elbow. Kaijou's captain clutched the area and bent slightly, Redhead heading towards the net and then passing the ball to Tattoos who was close by. Due to RimFire's members being distracted by seeing Yukio's bent posture, Tattoos was able to make a three.

The crowd erupted with boos and screams, as there were some spectators who had seen what happened. But, due to the referee's angle, he couldn't have seen the incident. Tetsuya and Tanaka were frozen with rage. Tetsuya gripped the metal bar, wanting to jump in there (even though Redhead looked like he would've beaten him up) and punch him in the face.

However, Shouichi saw what happened clear as day. And to say that he was pissed would be an understatement. Kotarou, Kazunari and Shige had rushed to Yukio to ask what happened, but before they could even say anything, the boy reassured them that he's fine.

"But you seem to have doubled over!" Kotarou said. "That's not normal!"

"His elbow is too pointy for a body part." He responded. "Damn that bastard. I'll kill him next time."

"Yuki," Shouichi started. "I'll be the point guard."

"Shou, I'm ―"

"Yukio." the tone he used this time made everyone there flinch both in shock and fright.

Defeated, Yukio could only sigh. He knew that the only time that Shouichi called him by his full name was when he was _dead_ serious. "Alright." he then said. "Just beware of his pointy elbow."

"I will. I'll probably break it as well." Shouichi said. "No one is supposed to damage you like that. Hell, those filthy assholes shouldn't even have touched you." he seethed. Seeing this, Yukio chuckled lightly, and moved off behind Shouichi.

"You know, sometimes, you can be a dangerous worrywart." Yukio then said.

"Haah? Of course. When it comes onto to you guys, _especially_ you, I'll defeat even a demon lord."

"Pfft!" Yukio then roared with laughter, he even slapped Shouichi across his back while he was at it.

Shige could only look in bewilderment. He knew they were all close, but seeing this exchange, it seemed that those two were closer than everyone else.

"That's a decade of best-friendship right there, Shige-chan." Kazunari said upon seeing the boy's face.

"I'd do the same if any of those dogs dare to try and hurt my Kazu." Kotarou added. "But that doesn't mean that we aren't going to crush them now that they've hurt Mom. Right, Kazu?"

"Damn right, Ko-chan." Kazunari seethed. "I'll crush them."

Seeing the look on their faces, Shige realized that getting on their bad side by hurting either of them is akin to handing out one's death warrant. He then retrieved the ball, and then passed it to Shouichi. He then followed the others and headed into their positions as instructed by Shouichi. Redhead was surprised by this new development, and wondered if this was just something to get Yukio away from him. He then smirked to himself.

 _It doesn't matter who's before me, I'll crush them as I did before._ He thought menacingly. But then, when his eyes caught Shouichi's, he began to think otherwise. The bespectacled teen had an evil glint in them, which put Redhead on high guard. It seemed as though he was scheming something. Subconsciously, he found himself looking in Yukio's direction. In that moment, Shouichi dashed away from him, and ran towards the net. Redhead followed suit, but then, he passed the ball to Yukio, as Tattoos had moved from him in an attempt to block Kotarou with Piercings.

Yukio received the ball, and then straightened his position to make his shot. However, he winced when he felt a sharp pain from his ribs. Shrugging it off for this moment, he still managed to make his three. But, that didn't go unseen by the others.

"Yuki, are you ―"

"I can't continue." Yukio said. "My side is killing me. I don't even know how I managed to make that shot."

"Let me see!" Kazunari shouted, then proceeded to lift his shirt. What they saw left them gasping. There was a nasty bruise, seeming as though it was swollen as well. Shouichi's head whipped around to the Beasts so fast, he could've gotten whiplash. Even Shige was pissed at this, and couldn't hide his apparent rage. But Kotarou and Kazunari were worse. In their eyes, it seemed as though something snapped within them, and all they could register was revenge.

Shouichi and Yukio then went to the referee and requested a substitution, Tetsuya was ready and waiting. They then gave each other a high-five, Yukio smiled as Tetsuya's rage was leaking out of his body in waves.

"Let's go Yukio-kun," Tanaka then said. "I have a first-aid kit in the trunk."

"But I wanted to see them get trampled."

"I have someone recording it. Don't worry." He smiled.

"Okay." With that, the two left for the car.

On the court, Shige's jaw nearly dropped when he saw Tetsuya. It was the first time that he's seeing an angry Tetsuya and in his eyes, he was the scariest of them all. The blue-haired teen then adjusted the black armbands on his wrists (a smile played on his lips as he was the one who gave them to him) and looked in the Beasts direction. "Let's destroy them."

"I'll show those bitches hell." Kotarou hissed.

The game then restarted, it was the Beasts' possession. Redhead as usual dribbled the ball, but then, they saw all of RimFire members dash towards them. In their moment of confusion, Redhead felt the weight of the ball disappear from his hands, and looked backwards to see it in Kazunari's hands. It was then that his eyes caught light-blue hair and wondered just when had Tetsuya stolen the ball.

"You…! When did…?! How…?!"

But Tetsuya blatantly ignored him, and moved off from him. There's absolutely no need to waste energy on people that hurt Yukio. After Kazunari made the shot, RimFire then went back to defend, once more awaiting the Fiery Beasts' attack. At the top of the circle there was Kazunari and Redhead as the raven-haired boy had assumed the role of point guard in Yukio's absence, Shouichi had reverted to being the shooting guard. But as usual, no one marked Tetsuya as they couldn't locate him.

Redhead then glanced around and made an attempt to pass to Highlights as he was the only one free, but in the instance that he did so, Tetsuya stole the ball and redirected it into Kazunari's direction. Then they dashed down the court with the Beasts hot on their tails, and the moment Kazunari had crossed the centre line, he passed the ball to Shige, who after a couple dribbles, then passed it to Kotarou. With a devil smirk, he then once more used his lightning dribble and blew past Piercings to make a swift layup.

"Ah, warm up is done." Shouichi said with a smirk. "Let's really crush them boys."

Shige blanched. _That was warm up?_

And so, RimFire went on a demolishing spree.

_xxxx_

Kise had just finished a photo-shoot, somewhat sad that he wasn't able to go to practice today. Ever since losing against Seirin, the blond seemed to prioritize basketball over modelling, but this once, Takeuchi had allowed him to go. After all, their captain isn't present at every Saturday practice. Kise was extremely bored, having nothing to do, so he seemed like an aimless youth walking down the sidewalk. Luckily, he had on his disguise ― a white mask to cover his lower face and a black fitted cap to hide his golden hair. It was then that he neared a park that he heard tremendous amount of noise which seemed like...cheering and...commentating?

He immediately dashed towards it, praying it's something that could alleviate his boredom. When he entered the park and traced the noise, what he found left him grinning. Due to the crowd there, he couldn't see but he definitely heard the sounds of a ball bouncing. And looking upwards, he saw that there were hoops at each side. Kise knew that all too well. It was then that he remembered when he went with Yukio to watch Tetsuya's match, Kotarou had told him that they all play street ball together.

"Could they be here?" he asked himself. "But there's no way I'd be able to see. This crowd's thick!"

« And RimFire once again has the ball. That was a brilliant steal by their Ghost! Number Eight is unstoppable! »

This piqued Kise's interest even more. Hearing 'Ghost' and 'steal' in the same sentence made him start thinking about Tetsuya. But once again, the thickness of the crowd was making it hard for him to progress to the front. He was becoming frantic, as he really wanted to see the match.

"Kise?" he jumped as a familiar voice called out to him. He turned around to someone who he's glad to.

"Senpai!" he wailed as he made a lunge for the captain. But he was stopped midway by Tanaka who shook his head.

"Not this time Kise-kun." he said softly. "Yukio-kun isn't a hundred percent right now."

"Oh." it was then that he saw the uniform and let out a babble. He wore number four just like at Kaijou but this uniform was full black with dark blue at the edges of the both the shirt and shorts. Their name 'RimFire' which sat atop a circle of flames was coloured in orange-red-yellow starting from the bottom of the letters to the top. These flames began from the first letter and ended at the last. It was pretty cool design, Kise concluded.

"What are you doing here?" Yukio then asked.

"I was bored. I just finished a shoot and was looking for entertainment. I just happened to pass by here and heard the commotion." He explained. "But with this crowd there's no way I can see the match."

"Well, you're in luck." Tanaka said. "You can come with us to the front."

"How?"

"We were there and plus, once they see Yukio-kun, they'll just move out the way."

"Oh." _Senpai is a V.I.P or something?_

The trio then started to navigate the crowd, and just as Tanaka said, the crowd really allowed Yukio to pass through. Kise was in-between him and Tanaka, as according to them, the crowd will swallow him whole and he'll just get pushed back. Within no time they back at the front, Tanaka took his camera and resumed his videoing. But what Kise saw left him stunned. On the scoreboard, it read:

RimFire ― 13

Fiery Beasts ― 8

They were leading them by two baskets. He then heard Yukio chuckle darkly, muttering something about 'serves them right' and 'hell's doors'. In Kise's opinion, he was glad that he couldn't hear because his captain's face was extremely scary at this point. He then focused on the match in time to see Shige with the ball and facing against Armband. The brunet then put what he learned from Kotarou and Yukio to use and within a single dribble, (this time he had used the different heights dribble since Armband was taller) he broke past the youth and made a bank shot.

"Senpai, who's that guy?" Kise then asked. He knew he didn't see him when they went to watch Tetsuya's match.

"Oh, that's Shige." Yukio said. "You don't remember him?"

"Did I ever meet him in the first place?"

The blond then saw Yukio's face soured. "You played against Meiko in your third year. He was their small forward, their ace." he then looked back on the match. "I don't think I need to go any further."

Kise blanched. He then recalled the match and felt horrible. What they had done ― what _he_ had done was unforgivable. It was then that Kise started to remember the faces little by little even though a bit hazy. At that time, whenever he was playing, he didn't look at his opponents faces, all he cared about was getting the quota and getting more points than the others. He really felt sick to his stomach.

"What are you brooding about?" Yukio asked with a slight jab in the side. "We all know what kind of asses you were in middle school. But this is high school now. You're not the same anymore so stop holding on to that, Kise."

"Senpai,"

"That said, you know what you need to do right?"

"Yeah."

"You two need to watch the match. They're burning it up!" Tanaka said with glee.

On the court, Kazunari dribbled towards the Beasts half of the court, but when Redhead came to block him; sticking out his tongue to the youth, he bounced the ball through his legs, it entering Shouichi's arms. The shooting guard then passed it to Tetsuya (who the opponents had not seen), and the boy redirected it to Shige who was by the net.

The Fiery Beasts seemed as though they were both red with rage and was about to be swallowed up by despair. At first glance, they had underestimated RimFire, simply because it was obvious that they were still in high school. They had thought that being undefeated was a fluke and their luck, but playing them made the Beasts realize how terribly wrong they had been. But one thing annoyed them to no end, Tetsuya. From out of nowhere the boy would steal their balls, and when he passes to his teammates, he uses some crazy passes.

It annoyed Highlights even more, being that he would be his marker but he can never keep sight of him. When it was the Beasts possession, no matter how he tried to locate the boy, he just couldn't. _Why is it so hard to locate someone with light-blue hair?!_ He had thought once.

The match continued to swing in RimFire's favour, Kazunari proving to be a dangerous point guard. With his eyes, he and Tetsuya's teamwork made the Beasts sweat and their eyes hurt, as there were many times when Kazunari passed the ball without even looking to a space and then the ball would just rocket to either of the other three. Shouichi made his threes as much as he got the ball which sadly for their opponents was quite often. Shige did a pretty good job under the net against Armband even though he was taller and bigger than him. And there were times when he made his own shots, Shige felt even more joyous when it was Tetsuya who passed the ball.

Then there's Kotarou.

Ever since the incident with Yukio, he had shown no mercy, Piercings was utterly crushed by him. He didn't use his three finger dribble, but instead, he maxed it out to five fingers. Piercings couldn't stand a chance. The moment Kotarou started, the ball would seem to disappear, the sound alone made Piercings feel as though the blond was trying to drill a hole in the ground. But, Kotarou was unstoppable. As a matter of fact, all of RimFire's members were.

By the time RimFire was on nineteen points, even though the Beasts didn't give up openly, it was clear that there was no way they could make a comeback. In his anger however, Tattoos had decided to storm into RimFire's territory with the ball, not heeding from previous experiences. The instant he crossed the centre line, the ball was knocked from his hands by Tetsuya, heading directly into Kazunari's arms. With a trick he's learnt from Tetsuya, he swiftly redirect it to Kotarou who then bounced it to Shouichi.

He made him seal their fate.

He made his three effortlessly, the members of the Beasts watched with horror. The referee then blew his whistle announcing the end of the match.

"Let this be a lesson," Shouichi started, addressing Redhead.

"If you play with RimFire, you're going to get burned." Kotarou finished.

They then lined up at the centre, the referee announced, "Twenty-two to twelve, RimFire!"

"Thank you very much!"

In the audience, Kise stood there shocked. It was then that he saw a different side of Tetsuya, one that he didn't _know._ This boy was full of emotions, happiness, anger, excitement, thrill, everything.

RimFire then went to collect their prize, and took pictures as well. Because of Tanaka's first-aid, Yukio didn't feel as much pain but the stinging feeling was still there. And then without even changing their clothes, the boys hopped into Tanaka's car, and headed to the nearest hospital, somehow, even Kise had managed to get dragged along without him realizing.

After some minutes of driving, they had finally arrived, Tanaka and Yukio going into the examination room, leaving the other boys outside in the waiting area. There was an awkward silence, simply because Kise wasn't being himself. The boys (minus Shige) knew how chatty the blond could be, so it was extremely strange seeing him looking a bit...gloomy? Even Shouichi had to pull down his glasses for that one.

But for Shige, it was like a confrontation with his horrid past. There's no way he'd forget a member of Teikou's team, even more so, they were in Basketball Monthly often so everyone was bound to know them. But he just couldn't bring himself to speak to the blond. He wanted to, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he froze. He couldn't.

"Umm, Shige-kun," Kise started. "That's all I know of your name but..." he trailed off. "...What I did in middle school was unforgivable, and I have no excuse for it. I was arrogant, stupid, conceited, you name it. But I want to say that I'm sorry. Extremely sorry. I know that it won't compensate for what you felt but it's all I can offer. Once again, I'm sorry."

Tetsuya's eyes widened at this, Kotarou and Kazunari's jaws hung, and Shouichi...he just stared in shock.

"I..." Shige didn't even know what to say. "Accepted. It's fine now, anyway. Seeing Tetsuya's match against Midorima kind of helped me to recover a little bit." Kise looked down. "But thanks for apologizing. I can see you as a human being now."

Before the blond could say anything, Tanaka and Yukio emerged from the room with looks of relief on their faces.

"So, is he going to be alright?!" Shouichi asked, totally forgetting what he just witnessed.

"Yes, once he continues to use this ointment, he'll be just fine in a week or two."

"Yus!" Kotarou hooted, Kazunari then cheered, and embraced Yukio in a hug but not one too tight. Afterwards, they then left, once more everyone boarded Tanaka's car, and they headed to the boys' house, Yukio couldn't even find the strength to do anything to a cheering Kise.

When they reached home, they all went to shower, as they were all sweating horribly. Kise admiring the place in the meantime, and squealing in delight that he finally got to see where his Kurokocchi lived. When they were done, they settled in the living room and then started a conversation; Kazunari, Kotarou and Tetsuya teasing Shouichi about being so protective of their 'Mom' (which was Yukio), Tetsuya, then being the little shit that he is even brought back the sentence that Shouichi had said about defeating a demon lord for Yukio. Their conversation spanned many topics, and at one point, Tetsuya had gotten a call from Riko stating that his 'girlfriend' just disrupted their pool practice. Sadly, the phone was on speaker. But when Riko described that it had been a pink-haired girl, he quickly corrected the situation, telling his coach that she was definitely not his girlfriend.

That moment Kise had blurted out, "Because Kurokocchi is mine!"

To dissolve any suspicion, Tetsuya had said he was on a train and there's no way she could've heard that. Shige and Kise then started their conversation, Shige not wanting to hold his hatred for the blond anymore, and for Kise, he wanted to know more about Tetsuya and about Shige (as he had been informed that he was Tetsuya's childhood friend). A couple minutes they then decided to play some card games, ranging from Pass 'Round Donkey, to Go Fish, to Thieving Castle and many more, until Tanaka came with the snacks. From a previous experience, Shige knew that RimFire plus food equals fights and craziness, so he mentally prepared himself.

Kise, on the other hand, found out the hard way, just like Shige had, that they were _something_ else.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

…

…

 

When the new school week began, the schools with teams participating in Inter-High were in high gear, more so, the Tokyo teams. That very Saturday would be the Championship Leagues to determine which three schools will represent their region in the upcoming tournament.

At Seirin, Riko made sure to squeeze every ounce of information out of Tetsuya about Momoi, Aomine and Shouichi. By the time she was done with the boy, he had felt exhausted, even the others felt sorry for Tetsuya, as they too had partaken in the questioning process, especially Kagami.

At one point, Furihata had questioned about the other blond, that was restraining Kagami at the time at the restaurant, wanting to know if he was on Touou's team as well. It seemed as though he had forgotten what uniform he wore.

"His name is Hayama Kotarou." Riko had answered. "And he doesn't go to Touou, thankfully, but if we should make it far into Inter-High we'll more than likely face his team." she then paused. "He goes to Rakuzan and is known as the _Raijuu_ for his unstoppable Lightning Dribble. In addition to that, he's known as well as a Crownless King."

The entire team let out startled gasps, Tetsuya wanted to bust with laughter at their expressions.

"But, Kuroko lives with someone like that and can't dribble?" Kawahara asked. "How come?"

"He lives with me only on weekends. Rakuzan is all the way in Kyoto." he deadpanned. He was slightly upset at that statement.

But meanwhile, Kagami seemed to be lost in thought. Hearing Kotarou's name struck a chord. A part of him feels like he's heard the name somewhere before, but he just can't figure it out. He racked his brain, trying to work it out but to of no avail.

So the rest of the week flew by quickly, the teams going through their usual practices. Even though Shutoku wasn't participating in the leagues, Nakatani still drilled them as hard as before, perhaps even harder.

At Kaijou, Takeuchi worked his boys, as they had already qualified for Inter-High. And as usual these days, Kise was practicing harder than everyone else. Yukio wasn't particularly worried about the blond anymore, as even though he was still annoying, he was more tolerable. But there were times when he begged Yukio if he could come visit, which, the captain denied with a fierce kick.

For Touou, nothing much has changed, as with Momoi's data, the players knew all too well what to do with Seirin. But Shouichi couldn't help the feeling that was rising within him. He's known about Tetsuya's past with the Generation of Miracles, and he knows the kind of friendship Aomine and Tetsuya had. But he just couldn't help that Tetsuya meeting Aomine as he is would spell disaster. And he wouldn't want him to get hurt.

Rakuzan was the usual; inside, the gym was quiet except for the sounds of the ball bouncing and sneakers squeaking. The team practiced as they usually would, somehow, Kotarou felt that this was just somewhat creepy. He didn't say anything about it, but continued on with the flow. After some minutes, they were given a break, and the blond sat on the court.

It was then that he saw Akashi talking with the only third year of the team, the mysterious Mayuzumi Chihiro. He reminded him of Tetsuya, in the way he operated on the court ― the steals, the passes, everything. He was _another_ Tetsuya.

"Yo, Akashi." he greeted. "Mayuzumi-senpai."

"Kotarou, what is it that you require?" Akashi asked. Mayuzumi only stared at him with a blank expression. Yet another trait that seems too much like Tetsuya.

"I'm just wondering, how come Mayuzumi-senpai is a power forward but your former teammate had no position?"

Akashi looked at him with a smirk. "It's simple. Tetsuya was just a prototype. Mayuzumi is far superior to him in any way."

"Excuse me?" Kotarou's voice entered a falsetto as he tilted his head to the side. Clearly he was pissed at what he just heard. He recognized Tetsuya as his little brother just as much as Kazunari is. "Prototype? How can you call someone that?"

"Why are you making this an issue?" Mayuzumi then asked. "It's not like you know Teikou's phantom sixth, why are you making it seem like a problem?"

"How would you feel if someone called you a prototype? A former teammate no less."

"It is different. Teikou's phantom couldn't even dribble to save his life, whilst not only can I shoot, but I can play like a normal basketballer. Obviously, _I'm_ better than him."

"In addition to that, there are certain passes that Tetsuya cannot do. Mayuzumi is able to perform them with ease."

"Unbelievable," Kotarou said as he walked away from the two. He was seething with rage.

By the time it was Friday, in RimFire's house, everyone was jumping for joy. Tanaka had informed them that there will be a competition on Sunday, and they were rearing to go. Ever since the match against the Fiery Beasts, Yukio had a lot of pent-up frustration that he needed to let out. Throughout the week, they had their usual two-on-two matches since Kotarou wasn't there. Though it was Shige and Kazunari on one team, Yukio and Shouichi on the other and Tetsuya was neutral; Tanaka was the referee.

However, at this moment, the boys were in their respective rooms, preparing for bed. Tetsuya decided to go to sleep early as he wanted to have every ounce of strength for his match the next day. But in Shouichi and Yukio's room, neither boy had gone to sleep just yet.

"Alright, now that everyone's asleep, tell me what has been eating you alive." Yukio said to Shouichi. "I can read you like a book, you know that right?"

Shouichi chuckled lightly. "Yes, I do." he replied. "But what I'm worried about is Tetsuya meeting Aomine. He isn't the same that Tetsuya knows and I'm just worried that he'll be crushed. I mean..."

"Well, I doubt that Tetsuya will reel over and die." Yukio shrugged. "Seirin's got firepower. They'll be able to stand up to you guys."

"Heeh? I beg to differ." Shouichi smirked. But then he went back to his previous state. "That's not the point, Yuki. I just have a sinking feeling that Aomine might let his ego get the best of him and well..."

"Tetsuya is feisty. He'll put Aomine in his place. You know he will."

"Ah, you're right." but even though he said this, he still couldn't help the feeling.

It was then that both boys heard shuffling outside in the hall. Curious, they then opened their room door just in time to see Kazunari and Kotarou heading downstairs. Exchanging glances, the older boys followed the two. The two hid behind the walls as the younger boys took a seat on the beanbags.

"What is it, Ko-chan? You've been wanting to talk to me since Monday. Is everything alright at Rakuzan?"

"No, it's not, Kazu." Kotarou responded a bit sadly. Kazunari raised his eyebrow at him. "Akashi pissed me off."

"That isn't something new, though."

"This time it's about Tetsu."

Hearing that one name, Shouichi and Yukio quickly emerged from their hiding spot and sat with the boys, even though they were a bit shocked. The looks on their faces made the younger teen unable to say anything, so Kotarou quickly continued.

"We all know that Akashi was the one who helped Tetsu developed his skill." They nodded. "At Rakuzan, he's created another phantom ―"

"...No." Kazunari gasped dramatically. He had feeling at where this was going. Anything with Akashi in it, couldn't be good for anyone else.

"― and he said that Tetsu was just a _prototype_ and that Mayuzumi, the name of that bastard, was better than Tetsu in every way. The way how they spoke really set me off. I almost snapped in the gym! Like...how...why...Shit! I can't even talk properly right now!" Kotarou stood up abruptly. "He's my captain but he pisses me off so much!"

"It's not just you. I'm absolutely livid." Yukio said in between gritted teeth. "How dare he refers to Tetsuya as a prototype? I may march up to Rakuzan to put him in his place."

"Is it just me, or do anyone else here feels like twisting that redheaded brat's neck?" Shouichi said. "I know I really want to."

"We all do, Shou-chan." Kazunari said. "I may have disliked Shin-chan at first, but as far as I see it, Akashi's the worst."

"Same here." Shouichi said adjusting his glasses. "I mean, it's fine that he's created a phantom since he's played with Tetsuya for three years and sees the good in that. But, to call him a prototype as though he's disposable really irks me. Right now, I'm seriously imagining him chained up in some damp cellar with dim lighting and me gauging those eyes out."

They paused. A moment of silence fell and the boys looked absolutely mortified.

"Now, now Shouichi-kun," came a voice from the stairs. "That's not a healthy thought."

"Tanaka-san." they greeted.

"I was coming here for a snack, but I overheard your conversation." Tanaka said as he sat beside Yukio. "Akashi is the redheaded one, right?"

"Yeah, he was their captain." Kazunari said. "And currently, he's Ko-chan's captain."

"I see." Tanaka nodded. "So...I take it that Tetsuya-kun doesn't know about this?"

"Nope!", "Never!", "Absolutely not!", "Hell no!" came from the four boys present at the same time.

"Alright. Then how are you going to attack this problem?"

There was silence for a brief moment. Tanaka raised his eyebrows as the boys then huddled up together, and whispers starting flying about. After what seemed to be an eternity, they broke apart, Kotarou spoke,

"Well, we've come to a general consensus." he started, "we'll make Tetsu into the best phantom point guard."

Tanaka nearly choked on his own spit. That was not the answer he expected. "Phantom Point Guard? How does that work? Better yet, is that even possible?"

"Well, he's a genius at passing and in a sense he's a playmaker. So Shou-chan, Yu-chan and I can teach him while Ko-chan can level up his dribbling skills. Then somehow, we make Akashi and the Rakuzan enter a street ball competition and bam! RimFire beats their asses!" Kazunari said huffing out his chest in pride.

"That sounds quite solid. But how are you going to incite Rakuzan into a street ball match?"

There was silence once again. The boys exchanged glances, as though trying to come up with a plan telepathically. When Tanaka saw how flustered they were getting, he clapped his hands to get their attention.

"You know what, go get some rest. Especially you Shouichi-kun. You have Tetsuya-kun to face."

"Ah, right." he sighed.

That said, the boys all made their way upstairs, crawling back into their beds.

_xxxx_

Finally, it was the day of the championship leagues first match. Many patrons made their way towards the gym, that included RimFire along with Tanaka and Kise. The blond ace had tagged along with Yukio as he was also going to watch, and well, Yukio had dragged him with him. He chatted the most with Shige, Kotarou and Kazunari and Yukio couldn't have been more grateful that Tanaka had made him drive. He doubt that he would have been able to restrain himself from kicking either of them.

After they had entered the gymnasium, they had encountered Midorima (he was walking ahead of them and Kise called out to him), Yukio and Tanaka then invited the shooter to sit with them. Midorima was somewhat peeved, as he remembered that time in Okonomiyaki restaurant and what happened afterwards. He then groaned aloud, he knew that Kise and the other blond along with Takao should not be in the same place at once.

They then made their way to some good seats, awaiting the entrance of the teams. Looking about them, Tanaka realized that the gym had a fair amount of people, and he wondered if it was due to Touou's influence, or the fact that people wanted to see the team who had beaten two Kings in a row trample another powerful team.

"There they are!" they heard someone say behind them. They looked at the court and saw the two teams marching out, and a smile came on RimFire's faces.

"I can't wait to see Tetsuya in action again!" Shige said gleefully.

"I know right!?" Kise agreed. In everyone else's eyes, they were getting along far too well far too quickly.

"I should have brought a megaphone." Kotarou sighed. "That way Tetsu and Shouichi can hear my words of empowerment."

"That's right, Ko-chan! We should have brought pom-poms as well!" Kazunari joined in.

Yukio bust with laughter. "I can imagine you making some ridiculous cheers for Seirin."

"Of course, from what Shouichi tells us, I've realized that I can't stand Aomine and I haven't even met the guy!" Kotarou laughed.

Midorima could only look on with shock. But what was even more for the shooter, was how Kise had blended in with them perfectly well.

On the court however, Seirin had realized that Aomine wasn't present. Kagami had even gone over to Wakamatsu asking about the ace's whereabouts, he graced with an upset answer:

"That self-centred brat is running late."

This made Seirin quite surprised and perplexed as, no matter how strong a team, anything can happen on the court. How it is that someone can run late for a match as important as this? It was beyond Seirin's understanding. But, Tetsuya was hoping that Aomine's habit of skipping practice isn't spilling into his match attendances as well.

"Sorry, we're actually in a bind without him too." Shouichi then joined in with a pitiful look on his face. "He said he'll show up in the second half, I guess you could call us the opening act. Go easy on us."

"Don't be ridiculous, Shou-nii." Tetsuya said, walking towards the captain. "And calling yourselves the opening act is just evil."

Shouichi pouted. "I'm evil? You've hurt big-brother's feelings Tetsuya." he then pretended to wipe a tear.

"Ara? I'm sorry." he said playfully. But then he smiled lightly. "We definitely won't go easy on you."

"Well then, may the best team win." he responded opening one of his eyes and smirking. Seirin were unaffected, as due to Riko's harsh interrogation on Tetsuya, they had a feeling that they could win this match.

"Likewise." Tetsuya smirked.

The two then made their way back to their benches and it was then that Shouichi was attacked by his teammates.

"You never told me that you had a little brother!" Susa said.

"But they don't even look alike." Wakamatsu added.

"You never asked," he deadpanned like Tetsuya. Inwardly, he was cracking up at their facial expressions.

Momoi then joined in the conversation, stunned at this new development. She knew that Tetsuya didn't have any siblings, but she just witnessed Tetsuya call her captain "Shou-nii". Tetsuya doesn't abbreviate anyone's names, his speech is always formal even towards friends.

"How do you know Tetsu-kun, Imayoshi-san?" she asked.

"He's my adorable yet blunt and straight-forward little brother. We live together. All day, everyday." he shrugged.

Momoi stared at him slack-jawed.

After everything and the players were fully changed in their jerseys, they then headed out onto the court. As Kagami was heading into position, Izuki had stopped him to say something.

"Kagami, you've already played Aomine once, right?" he asked. "Your motivation hasn't dropped, has it?"

"No way," he answered calmly. "If anything, I'm pissed." He then looked at the other players. "If these guys are the opening act, I'll pull so far ahead they can't catch up and make their star the world's biggest idiot."

"You're right." Tetsuya joined in. "While he's absent, we should score as much as we can."

"Yosh! You got it." Hyuuga said. "Let's go all out from the start."

The ball was then thrown into the air for the tip-off, Kagami managed to knock the ball to Izuki but before it reached its destination, Shouichi stole the ball, stunning everyone.

Shouichi then ran down court with the ball with Hyuuga chasing him. Hyuuga then managed to get in front of him to stop the point guard. _We'll break away now and take control of the game!_ He thought.

"You're quick, aren't you?" Shouichi said. "We have no choice then." He said as he passed the ball behind him. "We'll start by having our kamikaze captain pave the way for us." The ball landed in Sakurai's arms and within a heartbeat he got into shooting form and released the ball.

"Sorry!" he said. The ball went in perfectly.

 _A three! His movements are incredibly fast!_ Hyuuga thought. He then turned to Shouichi as he walked off. "Kuroko was right, calling yourselves the opening act was evil."

"Huh? I wasn't lying. You'll know once Aomine gets here. We're cute little kids compared to that brat." He then regrouped with the others. "I told you, we're just the opening act."

The game continued on, the two teams going head to head. Since both teams were offense-oriented, the game was turning out to be a run-gun mostly. Defense tried everything they could to block some shots, in worked sometimes, and another, they were helpless especially in Seirin's case.

It was now four minutes into the first quarter, Touou was on eight, while Seirin was on four. The ball had just rebounded off the rim of the net, but Wakamatsu managed to catch it. He then passed the ball to Shouichi who was already on his way to Seirin's net but Izuki gave chase. By the time Shouichi reached the net, Izuki had managed to catch him. He then jumped to make a shot, and Izuki followed for the block. However, seeing this, Shouichi then switched the ball's position mid-air.

 _The double-clutch!_ Izuki thought with alarm.

"No you don't!" The moment the ball started to roll off his fingers, Kagami knocked it away, leaving Shouichi and the rest of Touou stunned. "We know all about your little tricks." Kagami smirked at the captain.

Shouichi's eyes then landed on Tetsuya, the younger male grinned mischievously while waving his fingers at him. Shouichi smiled lightly as he shook his head.

"Tetsuya! How could you betray me so?" he said, faking his tears. "I thought we were family!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Tetsuya responded, feigning ignorance.

"I see. Always the little shit, I see." he nodded as he pat the boy's head.

"I love you too, Shou-nii. And I know you love me as well." he hummed as he walked off to regroup with the rest of his team.

Up in the audience, while Shige was surprised that Seirin managed to block Shouichi's double clutch, the others were not so much. In RimFire, they had learnt how to do some of each other's moves, the double clutch being one of Kotarou's moves and well, everyone in their group can do it except for Tetsuya and Shige (he hasn't been taught yet).

"Seirin managed to stop that." Kise said. "It's rare to see a double clutch get blocked."

"Indeed." Midorima agreed. "The thing is that most people won't be able to react fast enough to block it."

"But, from what I can see, Tetsu-chan definitely ratted out Shouichi on that one." Kazunari laughed. "I felt so sorry for him when he told us about the interrogation!"

"But that shooting guard, Sakurai-kun, was it?" Tanaka joined. "He released that ball pretty fast. If Seirin doesn't find a way to keep him in check, it's going to be disastrous."

"I agree." Yukio added. "And remember, they have a cunning point guard out there."

The game resumed, Touou making it to ten while Seirin hadn't moved.

 _They're strong. I didn't think they'll be this strong. If they're this good without Aomine, we're screwed._ Riko thought.

"Really?" Furihata said out loud. This gained the attention of the other two freshmen.

"What is it, Furihata?" Kawahara asked.

"Touou's preliminary scores." He said as he showed the boy the paper.

"That's amazing; they're all 100 point games!"

"Yes, they're the opposite of Seiho." Riko joined in. "An offensive team." They then heard the crowd roused up which caused their attention to be diverted to the court. Sakurai had the ball and released it. Hyuuga tried to block him but failed.

 _Damn it, I can't block him! He shoots while jumping!_ He then became irritated. _And if you're going to apologize, don't do it in the first place!_

The shot bounced off the rim of the net, but with Susa guarding him closely, Kagami found it difficult to pass to get the rebound. But both Susa and Wakamatsu aimed for the ball to push it back into net.

 _These guys…their care for their teammates is minimal and there's no coordination at all!_ Kagami thought as he watched them.

The game progressed, Touou blocking Seirin's players, both drives and attempts at shots. Seirin were unable to make their usual plays. When Riko saw this, she immediately knew what happened. "We've been researched by her as Kuroko-kun said."

"This isn't good is it?" Kawahara asked. "We have to do something."

"There's no need for that currently." she smiled. "We'll keep playing like this for a while."

"What?" Koganei asked.

"No matter how accurate their information, it's from the past. Humans grow."

Hyuuga had received the ball was facing off against Sakurai. He then pretended to make a three when his true intentions were to dribble past Sakurai and make a shot. However, as soon as he made for the drive, Sakurai blocked him.

"What?" Kagami said shocked.

 _They haven't seen this pattern before!_ Izuki thought. _They shouldn't have this data!_ He then turned to Hyuuga, "bring it back Hyuuga!" when he received the ball, looking at his options, he then realized that no matter what he would do, Touou already knew how to counter it. _We can't break through!_

Seeing what was happening, Tetsuya decided to act. He then made eye-contact with Izuki and somehow, the boy had an idea of what the phantom was thinking. Tetsuya then dashed off, Izuki still had the ball bouncing on the spot, he then turned to Kagami.

"Go!" he shouted while tilting his head towards the net. The redhead dashed off without hitch, and managed to make it close enough to the net even though Wakamatsu was blocking him. Izuki then passed the ball to Tetsuya who swiftly sent it rocketing perfectly into Kagami's hands. When the boy then jumped for dunk, Wakamatsu had also moved for the block, but strangely, by the time he was falling, Kagami was still in the air.

 _Hey how long are you going to stay in the air?_ Wakamatsu thought.

After Kagami had made the dunk, Touou had quickly restarted, Seirin quickly making it back into their half to defend.

But in the audience, RimFire and company were once more amazed at Kagami's jumping ability. Shige looked in awe at the boy, and wondered what were those legs made of. Not only was he able to jump high, but he's able to stay in the air for a prolonged time almost though he was attempting to fly.

"That redhead is amazing." he said. "What's his name again?"

"Kagami Taiga." Kazunari answered. "Ever since he blocked Shin-chan threes, he hasn't stop singing on his name! Every day in practice he's ―"

"Takao!" Midorima roared, cutting him off. "Stop making up stories!"

But Kotarou had tuned them out. Looking at the match before him, he just realized that Kagami's name ' _Taiga'_ sounded very familiar that it's frightening. But, he just couldn't remember where he heard it. He knew it wasn't from Tetsuya, this feeling was something different. He looked to the ceiling while tapping his finger on his chin, in deep contemplation.

"Taiga...Taiga..." he said trying to see if saying the name over and over while spark something. But doing this caught Kazunari's attention beside him.

"Ko-chan? Are you turning into Shin-chan as well?" he asked with a snicker.

"Ah no," he replied. "It's just that his name sounds familiar. Like I've heard it somewhere before."

Now, that caught everyone's attention.

"But how? You live in Kyoto, I doubt that there's anyone there who knows him." Kazunari said.

"And plus, Kagamicchi said that he lived in America before this, so there's no one who could know him." Kise joined in.

Kotarou let out a gasp. "Tatsu! That's why his name sounds familiar!" he then made another gasp as he looked at the court. " _He's_ Taiga? No!" Kotarou looked on in disbelief. He then turned to Kazunari. "You should know too! Tatsu told us about him, remember?"

After seconds of thinking, it was then that it had dawned on the raven-haired. "Oh right! The boy that had no friends! But strange eyebrows!"

"Yes!"

"Is there something that I should be concerned about?" Yukio then asked.

"Not at the present moment." Kotarou responded.

In the midst of their chatting, they hadn't realized that the first quarter had just ended with Touou on twenty-five, with Seirin trailing behind.

"If there's anyone who can stop Momoi, it's you two." Riko said to her boys during the break.

"Yeah since you two are the only ones who she doesn't have enough data on." Hyuuga said. "She has data on us for a whole year."

After that, the buzzer sounded. The teams returned back to the court, when they got into positions, Kagami stole a glance at Tetsuya and nodded to the boy. Seeing this, Izuki grinned. He then passed the ball to Tetsuya. He then used the ignite pass to send the ball flying to Kagami who was already reaching for it. Susa and Wakamatsu then went into position to block Kagami.

Once again, they were falling, he was still in the air.

 _Are you flying or something?!_ Susa thought with shock.

Kagami dunked the ball with success. But when he landed on the ground, he felt the pain in his legs. They then moved off to defend, but as he was running, Riko noticed it. _You're kidding!_ She thought in horror.

She then turned to Koganei, "This is an emergency. Koganei-kun get in as soon as possible."

"Seirin member change!"

"Kagami! Change!" Koganei called out to the boy since he wasn't paying attention.

"What? Why me?" he asked. "We're just getting started."

"Just go back, the coach noticed." Koganei answered.

When Koganei had headed out onto the court and Kagami came to sit, Riko then talked to him. "Your injured legs haven't healed as yet, have they?"

"I'm fine! I'm totally…"

"You're not sick, and there's nothing wrong with you so I won't tell you not to play. I'm going to tape your legs, take off your shoes."

 _Damn it, I was just getting started._ Kagami thought.

The game continued, Izuki bounced pass the ball to Tetsuya who redirected it to Hyuuga. As soon as he got the ball, he straightened to shoot. When he released the ball, in went in perfectly, his clutch mode now coming out.

Wakamatsu then received the ball and passed it to Shouichi who was already towards Seirin's half of the court. He then dribbled until he reached the top of the circle, and blocked by Izuki. With a smirk, Shouichi then shot the ball, leaving Seirin's players swearing. From what they got from Tetsuya, they knew that he was skilled enough to be a shooting guard. However, the ball didn't go in, it rebounded off the rim but Susa tapped in. With Kagami gone, there's no way any of the Seirin players could get it.

"Seirin's in trouble without Kagami." Yukio said.

"Since they score around Kuroko but the problem is the other remaining four due to Momoi having data on their movements." Midorima added. "The hole left by Kagami is huge."

Back on the bench, Kagami watched the match. "Please, just hang in there." He said.

"Calm down, Kagami!" Tsuchida reassured him. "Have a little more faith in everyone."

"I know!" he replied. "We'll beat Touou with team play!"

Riko had finished taping his feet and rose to her feet. "You can go now."

Within a heartbeat, Kagami took off his white shirt and was ready to head back onto the court. "Thanks," he told her.

"I'm sorry," he then heard her say. "The truth is, I don't want to send out an injured player but we can't win without you. We've been calling it team play, but it's actually a style someone taught me."

"Someone?"

"I'm not strong enough to draw out everyone's full potential, so I have to rely on you even though you're injured. My own weakness pisses me off." She said with a sad expression.

"What are you talking about? This isn't like you." Kagami said. "You make practice menus, you scout, give us instructions on the bench and even massage and tape us. If anything you do too much." He shrugged. He then continued, "You're the coach. You've got to at least come prepared during games. I mean, sending me off with an apology hardly amps me up."

She then smiled. "You're a brat, you idiot. Go get them!"

"Seirin member change!"

As Kagami was about to step onto the court, he felt a hand slung over shoulder.

"That's it, show some spirit…" Kagami's eyes widen as he recognizes the voice. "…so you can entertain me a little."

"You bastard!" Kagami shouted as he flung off Aomine's arm. Not one of Seirin's players had on a happy face, as they knew that things were just about to get even tougher.

"You're finally here?" Shouichi said. By now, it was less than a minute left in the second quarter. "Hurry and get ready so you can play!"

"What? But you're winning." He replied.

"No you have to play." Their coach ― Harasawa Katsunori ― said.

"Fine. He drawled. He then flung his bag on the bench and took off his shirt. "Let's go."

 

 


	17. Chapter 17

...

...

 

"Touou, member change!"

When Aomine walked onto the court, everyone could feel that the air had just gotten a whole lot tenser. The dark blue haired player then made his way over to where Tetsuya was.

"It's been a while, Tetsu." He started. "You've been doing pretty good, eh? You look determined." he then said when he noticed the look on Tetsuya's face.

"Yes." Tetsuya replied in his usual deadpan manner.

Aomine chuckled. "You look ready to go." He then walked off. "I wonder what kind of play you'll show me. Well either way, you won't beat me." He smirked.

Tetsuya slightly twitched.

The game continued, the referee giving the ball to Susa who then passed to Sakurai. Hyuuga was right on him but the boy quickly bounced it to Shouichi. Izuki then went to block to him but Sakurai had run up just in time and received the ball from Shouichi.

In the audience, Kazunari had realized that something was strange with their formation. "What's this?" he asked aloud. "Hey, their balance is off. Don't they have too many guys on one side?"

"No, it's on purpose." Midorima answered. "Isolation. In order to allow special players to move freely, the remaining players gather to one side. There are several reasons to use this technique, but in this situation, it's exactly what it looks like. In other words, it's a one-on-one between the two teams' aces."

"But damn, I feel it for Kagami." Kotarou said with a slight cringe. "Isn't he injured from the Shutoku match? Yet, he's taking on Aomine? Poor thing."

"Indeed, it is." Yukio sighed. "If they aren't careful, he may end up damaging his legs even more."

Bringing their attention back to the match, they saw Aomine with the ball facing off against Kagami.

Aomine then smirked.

He dribbled between his legs so fast that Kagami couldn't block him. He then drove to the basket, until Hyuuga came up to block him. He paused and looked unaffected, spun around and continued for the net. However, as he was about to dunk the ball, Kagami came up and knocked the ball from his hands.

 _He caught up in the second it took to roll?_ Aomine thought.

"He stopped him!" Riko cheered.

"All right Kagami!" Koganei joined in.

"So high!" Midorima and Shige said at the same time in shock. Even the audience was shocked at that.

Back on the court, the Seirin players were heading to Touou's half of the court.

"Now! Fast break!" Hyuuga shouted with Mitobe running beside him. He then threw the ball to Izuki but Shouichi and Wakamatsu were already down there. Izuki had to stop.

"You can take your slow fast break and shove it!" Wakamatsu said. Shouichi then dashed off towards Izuki in an attempt to steal the ball, but the eagle-eyed point guard passed the ball behind his back to Kuroko who used the Ignite pass to get the ball to Kagami.

"Doing it now, Tetsuya." Shouichi said with a chuckle.

Kagami then jumped to make the dunk but Aomine had caught up and knocked the ball from his hands. Luckily, the buzzer sounded signaling the end of the first quarter.

"Oh? It's over?" Aomine said aloud in slight disbelief. "I was going to score one as a quick warm-up. What is this? Sheesh…" he then turned to face the others. "Pretty good though. At ten points behind, I thought you guys must suck, but you're not bad, are you?"

Hearing him say something like that left everyone both shocked and angry. Even Shouichi was a bit peeved at that. Before heading off to their locker room, he stole one look in Tetsuya's direction and saw that the boy was upset. Shouichi shook his head at this, but one thing was that, he was not worried in the least. Momoi had given them all the information needed on Seirin and well, even though Aomine's attitude irks him, he admits that he's the best.

_xxxx_

"Good work in the first half!" Riko said. "I made you these so we can make a comeback in the second!" she then raised a container in front of her. "They'll raise your energy!"

Kagami, Koganei and Hyuuga opened the container but what they stumbled upon made them cry.

"Slice them! We're always telling you to slice them!" Hyuuga cried.

"I washed them, so you can eat the skin." She defended. "And you'll be able to eat lots!"

Seeing that the team was in distress, Izuki approached Mitobe, "Do you have any?" he asked.

The boy nodded as he pulled out a container. When Izuki removed the lid, the lemons seemed to sparkle. Quickly, everyone except Kise gathered around and ate.

"Mitobe, I'm glad you're on our team." Hyuuga said with tears of joy. Meanwhile Riko was sulking in a corner. Tetsuya only watched as everything went down, but seeing Aomine in such a long time made him realize something. That obviously, just like Kise and Midorima, he seemed like he had gotten better. Tetsuya couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this.

Kagami realized that Tetsuya wasn't eating any, so he turned around to look for the boy. He then spotted him on his bench with his back leaning against a locker.

"Kuroko, you don't want any?"

"I'll pass." Tetsuya answered without even looking at the boy.

Seeing the blue-haired boy, Riko then said, "Kuroko-kun, you played the entire first half, so I'm taking you out a bit. You have to replenish your nutrients."

"Coach," he called out to her "the latter half, please let me play."

"The latter half too?" Riko asked in surprise.

"Well, it is hard to reverse the score without Kuroko." Hyuuga said nervously. "But are you sure it will help? I don't think your misdirection is effective throughout forty minutes!"

"I'm against that too." Izuki agreed. "I can see through my 'eagle eyes' that you're starting to lose precision. You should stay out of the court first."

"I can...no, I will." Tetsuya said. "No matter what, I want to win against Aomine this time!"

"Well, I appreciate your eagerness..." Hyuuga commended but he was worried for the smaller boy. _But can you keep up?_ He thought. Everyone knows that Tetsuya doesn't have the body to withstand the hectic play of a match in its entirety.

 _He was in for the entire first half. The second half will be even tougher with Aomine on the field, but if he plays now, his strength will expire before the final whistle...How…?_ Riko didn't know what to think. She tried to think up of a way Tetsuya would be able to last, but nothing comes to mind.

"Just follow the plan coach!" Kagami said as he got up onto his feet. He then marched over to where Tetsuya was and shoved a lemon into his mouth. "Now, enough with your nonsense. Just sit aside, idiot!" he then turned to walk off. "You're the one who told me basketball is not a one-person game! Practice what you preach!"

"Fine," Riko then said. But she was still uneasy. _Both routes are risky, so...go by what our aces decide!_ "We'll start without Kuroko-kun and decide our fate in the last quarter! However, there's no point to stick to predetermined strategy here! If the situation gets worse, be prepared for a substitution!" she said that looking at Tetsuya. "And finish my lemons!"

After that speech, Riko continued on to pep her boys, giving them instructions about the line-up this time since Tetsuya would be out. Then, the time winded down, and the teams were now heading back to the court for the second half.

The moment the teams emerged in the audience's view, RimFire plus Midorima and Kise noticed that they had benched Tetsuya. Shige was stunned by that and looked to Yukio for a reason but Midorima ended up answering instead.

"It can't be helped," Midorima answered. "But they couldn't afford to sub Kuroko out in the first quarter without Aomine. I don't believe they can endure this."

"But, with Aominecchi on the court, benching Kurokocchi is a risky move!" Kise added.

On the court, the match started and Aomine had received the ball from Shouichi but swiftly, Kagami came to block him. He then bounced the ball and with swift movements, he broke pass Kagami as if he wasn't there.

 _He didn't fake me out, but I still can't keep up!_ Was Kagami's thought. _He's unbelievably fast!_

As Aomine continued towards the net, Tsuchida and Mitobe were already there, ready to block him. But Aomine didn't let that faze him. When the three jumped, he went into a fadeaway.

 _How can anyone make a quick stop at that speed and jump backwards?_ Izuki thought as he watched with shock. However, Kagami did not give up. He ran towards Aomine and jumped to block him from behind. But he was just a second too late.

 _Damn it! I can't keep up! He's even faster than before!_ Kagami thought.

When they restarted, Aomine received the ball and once more faced off with Kagami. The redhead could tell that there was something different about him. Aomine then ran off with the ball, Kagami beside him trying to stop him at all costs. But then Aomine bounced the ball behind Kagami and turned around and caught it back to make his way to the net.

Kagami had reacted quick enough to catch him back and block him, but Touou's ace was unstoppable. His movements are unreadable and unconventional and upon seeing them, Kagami realized that it was street ball. After trying to stop his movements and failed, he fell on his butt.

Seeing that Kagami couldn't stop him, Hyuuga joined Mitobe and Tsuchida at the net to try and stop Aomine. However, with a jump, Aomine ended up at the corner behind the net and threw the ball over the backboard.

It went in perfectly.

Everyone was shocked.

"What on earth?!" Shige shouted in shock. "What is up your former teammate, Kise?"

The blond, could reply with a simple shrug.

Once again the crowd roused up. They then looked to the court, to see Kagami and Aomine running towards Seirin's net. Kagami was between him and the net, but then Aomine did something unusual. He threw the ball. And surprisingly, it went into the net after bouncing off the backboard.

Shige paled. Since Kise hadn't given him a solid answer, he then turned to Midorima. "Seriously, what's up with that guy?"

"It's simple. Over the years basketball forms have been polished to perfection, so it all comes down strategic battles between teams. But He's an unconventional player. There's no form to Aomine's dribbling or shooting. He is limitless, impossible to defend against."

Soon, Kagami had the ball and made his way to Touou's net. He was about to make a shot when suddenly the ball was knocked from his hands.

"Sorry. You're so slow I took the ball." Aomine said to him. He then ran off into Seirin's half of the court with Kagami chasing him.

"Get back here!" he shouted. In his eagerness, he jumped to block Aomine but ended up fouling him. Aomine shot the ball from behind his back, leaving everyone in shock.

"Basket counts! One free throw!" the referee announced.

Aomine turned to Seirin and with a smirk said, "This isn't your basketball is it? The only one who can beat is me. You can't fight me on your own." He then walked to Seirin's bench and stopped at Tetsuya. "Come on out, Tetsu. Let's settle this."

 _We're twenty points behind. We have to prepare ourselves._ Riko thought. She then turned to Tetsuya, "Kuroko-kun,"

"I've had plenty of time to rest. I'm going."

"Show me the strength of the new light and shadow." Aomine said as Tetsuya got up.

"Seirin member change!"

Tsuchida gave a high-five to Tetsuya and he walked out onto the court. His eyes were downcast, so the rest of the team wondered what happened to the blue-haired boy. He then made his way over to Kagami.

"Sorry. It's even harder by myself than I imagined." Kagami said.

"Let's do this together."

"Of course."

Shouichi dribbled the ball down court with Izuki chasing him, but then he passed to Wakamatsu who made a shot. Without hitch, Tetsuya grabbed the ball and used the same pass that he used in the Shutoku match against Midorima.

Kagami caught it and dribbled down the court. Aomine chased him down, catching him up. But before he could steal the ball, Kagami passed the ball to Hyuuga who was at his usual spot.

"What's wrong Kagami?" Hyuuga asked as he received the ball. "That was a pretty nice pass."

"Please make this shot, Captain!" Furihata shouted, clasping his hands seeming as though he was praying.

Hyuuga made a perfect three and then turned in the direction of the three first years. While fixing his glasses on his face he said, "When I'm shooting get ready to celebrate!"

"He's already in clutch time!" they chorused.

Susa got the ball and made a pass to Shouichi but Tetsuya came and intercepted it. He then passed it to Izuki who made a shot. The two then made a high-five as they returned to their half of the court.

"You're still the same Tetsu." Aomine said when Tetsuya reached him. "You really haven't changed since middle school. Not at all." He then turned to face him. "I'm disappointed. You still think you can beat me?"

Tetsuya didn't answer him. A part of him felt hurt when the boy had said that, but also, there was another part that couldn't shake the feeling that he was right.

Izuki dribbled the ball when he saw Kagami run on ahead of him and Tetsuya near him. _Let's take back the game!_ Was his optimistic thought. He then passed the ball to Tetsuya who made an Ignite pass to Kagami. However, before it could reach, Aomine stopped it.

"Who do you think has caught more of your passes?" he said.

"Damn it!" Kagami cursed. Izuki then went to block Aomine but he threw the ball over Izuki's shoulder, startling the point guard. He caught it back quickly and blew past Hyuuga and Mitobe as though they weren't there. Kagami and Tetsuya ran towards him to block his shot but Aomine managed to dunk either way, sending the two crashing to the ground.

Riko was stunned as well. _He blew past five guys…Impossible!_

"How sad." Aomine started. "You haven't changed at all since middle school. You haven't improved. Akashi was right. Your basketball will never win."

Tetsuya's eyes widen with shock. Hearing Aomine, his former light utter such a thing with disdain laced in his voice made his heart tremble. _He_ started trembling. He felt the tears threatening to come out but he fought with everything he had to suppress them. Thankfully, it worked. Tetsuya isn't the type who would give without a fight, but there was a feeling in the pits of his stomach that they won't be able to win this one.

But nevertheless, he still had his fighting spirit. The match continued on, but by the time it reached the first minute of the fourth quarter, Seirin was far behind on fifty-one points, while Touou was on eighty-two. Aomine was ruthless, and even Shouichi, kept looking worriedly at Tetsuya.

Throughout, Tetsuya had tried to help his teammates by the usual, redirecting the passes to the necessary teammate. However, with Aomine present, his passes were blocked as he was his light for three years. He knew Tetsuya's passes like the back of his hand. Kagami, also, had a hard dealing with the ace. He was faster than him, stronger than him...overall he was _better_ than the redhead.

Seirin got into even more trouble when Riko noticed that Kagami's legs were injured still. Seeing this, without hitch, she called for a substitution. Tsuchida was standing beside her, and when he noticed that Kagami wasn't paying attention, he called out to him.

"Why again?" he asked. "There's no problem with the taping!"

"Just get on the bench." Tsuchida said.

"I'm fine! Besides, the game is still going. I can't leave now."

"Just get on the bench!" Riko barked at him. _I can't let him play anymore in this game._

But in Kagami's opinion, he was boiling with rage. The fourth quarter as recently started and now he was subbed off _just because_ of his injury. He didn't hate Riko, instead, all this rage was directed at one person: Aomine Daiki. After all, he's heard what he said to Tetsuya. He was upset at that, but more so, upset at himself for being unable to at least do something. The ace had totally overpowered him, even though there were still couple moments where he managed to knock the ball from Aomine, but that wasn't ― _isn't ―_ enough. He needed to be able to keep Aomine in check, put him in his place. But, the way he is now, it wasn't possible. But, he swore that he'll take him down the next time.

The match progressed, the gap between Seirin and Touou just grew wider and wider. With Kagami now gone, stopping Aomine was next to impossible. Getting rebounds was also impossible. And this was vital as there were times when Hyuuga was forced to make a shot and it missed. Everyone on Seirin's team were inching closer and closer to their limits, Tetsuya was _already_ at his limits.

Aomine was now with the ball, Tetsuya somewhat blocking his path. His eyes were full of determination and fighting spirit, but up against Aomine...that alone couldn't do.

"The winners and losers were determined faster than I thought." Aomine started as he dribbled the ball. "Your great passes are now useless, your stamina is long gone, and Kagami is benched. Everyone's hopes are all dashed; now, even you are simply another tired member of the team. I won this one, Tetsu."

"It's...not over." Tetsuya responded, panting heavily.

"You can't win basketball just by one amazing counterattack. Your chances now are not even better than one in a million and ―"

"When the possibility of winning is zero, that's because the players gave up. Even if other people think it's meaningless, it's disgusting for me to quit, even when the possibility is zero." Tetsuya answered him. "Therefore, I will never give up!"

Aomine's eyes widened at that. Even the other players who were in range and heard the conversation, were also surprised. His statement spoke volume as being the weakest player on the court, who can't even dribble to save his life, who can't shoot a three, a dunk or even a layup, who _can't_ do anything without help. Just by hearing that, Seirin's spirits were brightened, and even the bench players started to cheer for the ones on the court.

But even so, nobody gave up. Everyone fought together with all they had until the bitter end. Still, the scores dragged apart bit by bit. By the time the match had ended, Seirin had lost, overwhelmingly.

_xxxx_

The teams the returned to their locker rooms, in Touou's room, even though there was some sort of celebration going on, Shouichi had a dark aura emanating from his body. Without a word to anyone, he quickly changed out of his sweaty jersey, and even while their coach Harasawa spoke, he totally tuned out the man. When he was done, he rose to his feet, but he was still facing the locker.

"Aomine," he called in an icy tone. Everyone present felt a chill run down their spines. "Let's talk outside. Now. Don't defy me." He then walked out of the room, a frightened and shocked Aomine following suit. He then closed the door behind him the moment he was outside in the hallway.

"Why did you say that?" Shouichi started.

"Say what? When?"

"In the match, to Tetsuya."

Aomine drew back at that. Since he was absent at the beginning, he didn't know about the whole 'little brother Tetsuya' relationship. Seeing that Aomine had seeming to freeze up, he then added.

"What you said to him was unnecessary. Also, wasn't he your _shadow_ in middle school? How could you something like that to him?" Shouichi slightly paused so as to not raise his voice and chew the boy's head off. "Your play was enough to crush him, and yet you added those words along with it? How could you? It was already obvious that you were stronger than Kagami, Tetsuya knows that. Yet, you continue to trample on ―"

"Imayoshi-san, why is this such a problem? I played thinking that they could alleviate my boredom but they didn't. And I've always played like this? Why haven't you said anything in the other matches?"

"Don't interrupt me when I'm talking." Shouichi started off. Aomine jumped a bit. "First of all, how many times during our matches have I told you to calm down? How many matches have I played at full capacity?" he saw Aomine divert his eyes with a look of guilt on his face. "This was the only match that I hadn't said anything to you, Tetsuya would have killed me if he found out." he then sighed and rubbed his temples. "What I'm saying is that what you did and said to Tetsuya was unnecessary and cruel. You better find him and apologize. If you don't, the moment you call him 'Tetsu' I'll cut your tongue out."

Aomine trembled. But he quickly recovered to ask him this one thing: "How do you know Tetsu?"

With a smirk, Shouichi replied, "He's my little brother."

After that, he then re-entered the locker room, and he took up his bag and with a wave to everyone he left. He headed directly towards Seirin's locker room, wanting to see Tetsuya. Catching the look on his face, he knew that Tetsuya would need comforting. Thus, he sent a message to Yukio, indicating what he was doing. It would be nice to have to rest of the boys come along as well. In times like these, the more the merrier.

But when he opened Seirin's door, what he saw left him heartbroken.

_xxxx_

After Seirin made it to their locker room, they were engulfed in gloom. Seeing this, without even wasting a second, the moment they had all finished changing, she spoke. She barked at him, hoping that this would sort of helped to raise their spirits a little. She told them about the remainder of the league, their two upcoming matches against Meisei and Senshinkan. But even though she shouted at them, her tone of voice, had no form of anger in it. Silently, she prayed that her boys will be alright. After she was done with her talk, she then left the room, waiting on the outside with the freshmen trio. It seemed that they all had the same thought of leaving the players alone for a while. Then, about a minute or two passed and they emerged from the room, minus Kagami and Tetsuya.

"Hey." Kagami started. "This might be our limit. I thought we could go further, but look at us." Tetsuya didn't say anything. Instead, he waited to see what else the redhead by say to him. "In the face of overwhelming power, I don't think we can win just by working together."

Tetsuya froze on the spot.

Kagami then exited through the door, leaving the blue-haired teen sitting alone in the room. Tetsuya couldn't believe that this day had turned out so horribly. First they got destroyed by Shouichi's team and now, it seems that because he was unable to assist Kagami, he doesn't want his assistance anymore. He grabbed his shirt at his heart. It was painful. The feeling of uselessness was unbearable and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't help it. He crumbled to the floor, and hung his head low. He was at a loss. He didn't know what to do, all he felt was hurt, sadness and anger.

He was hurt at what Kagami just said.

He was sad that they had lost.

But most importantly, he was angry at his own self. He was angry that he was useless.

Just then, he saw the door open and Shouichi walked in. He quickly turned away his face, it wasn't that he didn't want to see Shouichi, but he didn't want him to see him like this. But he knew that Shouichi would not leave and the others would coming storming in here sooner or later. He didn't mind them, but he didn't want them to see like this at all.

"Tetsuya." Shouichi said. He then took a seat beside him on the floor. He threw an arm over his shoulders and tried to soothe him. He said nothing to the boy but continue to comfort him. At this moment, Shouichi was pissed. Honestly, he wasn't upset that his team won against Tetsuya's, it was what Aomine said to him. It was how Aomine behaved. Against a former teammate, it was unbelievable.

"Tell me, how are you feeling Tetsuya?" he then asked. He knew he couldn't say 'it's going to be alright', or 'cheer up' or anything like that. That wouldn't do any justice.

"I'm fine, Shou-nii."

But Shouichi would not buy that. The only time Tetsuya calls him 'Shou-Nii' is when he's being playful, in essence, it was when he was in a good mood. He knew that Tetsuya was just trying to fool him.

"Who do you think I am?" he then asked. "Alright, then, how do you feel? Sad? Upset? What? You know you can talk to me. Tell me Tetsuya. I may not be able to help you or do a thing right now, but please, I can't bear it when you're silent."

It was then that he saw and felt Tetsuya's shoulders start trembling. He held the boy tighter. "You can let it out, Tetsuya." he said, all the while, bracing for when the floodgates will open. But sadly, things took a different turn. Abruptly, Tetsuya suddenly stood up and muttered, just at the right level that Shouichi could hear.

"I wish to be alone."

Shouichi couldn't retort. They lived in the same house anyway.

_xxxx_

In the audience, RimFire and company were shocked at the scene that just unfolded. They knew that Aomine would have been a hard nut to crack, but also, with Shouichi as their point-guard, it would have been tough. Plus, that spy-like manager. They were engulfed in silence for some minutes until Yukio's phone had rang out. He then opened the message and saw that it was Shouichi. He read it aloud and without hitch, RimFire bolted up and dashed through. They mowed down anyone in their way, ignoring the indignant shouts of the people. Midorima and Tanaka were the only ones who were still seated after the boys ran off, but after a while, Tanaka rose as well.

"Let's go Midorima-kun," he said. The shooter looked at him a bit shocked. "They'll be going to the car afterwards anyway. Let's just meet them there." With a nod, Midorima followed behind the older man.

The other boys dashed down the hallways and within no time, they were at Seirin's locker room. But, what the saw was only half of what they expected. Shouichi was sitting alone in the room, looking crestfallen.

"Shou! Where's Tetsuya?" Yukio started as he made his way over.

"He said he wanted to be alone. In essence, he's not okay."

"Well, Aomine was frightening." Shige shivered. "I doubt I would be alright too."

"That's not it." Shouichi corrected. "Aomine..." he then recounted what he heard the ace said to Tetsuya in the match and instantly, he saw their faces twist with rage. Even Kise, he seething. His aura was literally leaking out in waves, causing Shige to flinch. Kotarou looked as though he wanted to murder Aomine, Kazunari was just as bad. He then got to his feet, dusting off his pants as well.

"It's best we go find him. I'm pretty sure he isn't with his team right now."

"Then where else could he be?" Kotarou asked.

"Most likely, he's gone to find Tanaka-san," Kise said. "Or he's walked off somewhere that he himself doesn't know."

There was a pause.

"TETSUYA!" RimFire shouted as they bolted out of the room.

Kise stood there and stared. "Was it something I said?" he asked himself. But then, not wanting to be left behind, he quickly followed the others.

****

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	18. Chapter 18

…

…

 

Tetsuya wandered into the parking lot. Since Shouichi had come to his locker room, he figured that the others may head there as well. For the time being, he just wanted to clear his head. He had already messaged Riko that they should go on ahead of him, but in truth, he was not going to meet up with them. He couldn't. He had felt so awful that he was completely useless while everyone else was doing the best they could. He was aching inside. He could feel the emotions rising within but he used all his strength to not be overcome the sadness. He couldn't burst into tears in public. That's just too embarrassing.

But then, as he rounded a corner, he saw a familiar car, however, there were two people sitting on the bonnet. They were none other than Tanaka and Midorima. Yes, the shooting guard and ace of Shutoku, Midorima Shintarou. Tetsuya wondered what he was doing here, as he remembered Kazunari saying that he was finally going to be having a chauffeur-free day as Midorima wasn't going to come watch. But as he continued to look on, he saw that the two were talking. He didn't know if it was just Midorima's personality, but the look on the shooter's face was grave, and to make it worse, looking at Tanaka's gestures, Tetsuya knew that they obviously weren't making jokes with each other either.

Curiosity got the best of him, as he wanted to listen in on what they were talking about. It couldn't have been about anything other than the match, as prior to this, Midorima had only met Tanaka twice (both were brief instances), and if they were discussing Kazunari's behaviour at school and home, then their expressions wouldn't be so serious.

He sighed in defeat, as there was no way he could have heard. He then walked over to the two, giving them a startle as they hadn't noticed him coming. With a smile, Tanaka then entered the car, the two boys following suit, going into the back. There was an awkward silence between the two, Tetsuya not knowing what to say to Midorima. He _didn't_ know what to say. Then, he saw Tanaka do something.

"I'll let you two teammates rekindle your friendship." As he said that, he had exited from the car so fast that Tetsuya couldn't even say anything. He then looked to Midorima and saw that the boy wasn't in the least perplexed about what just happened.

 _Could this be a scheme of some sorts?_ Tetsuya thought. But before he could think any further, Midorima called out to him.

"Kuroko," he started, pushing his glasses up his nose bridge. Tetsuya was unable to say anything. "That match..." Unknowingly, Tetsuya's heart started racing. He braced himself for it. Knowing Midorima, Tetsuya had a feeling that he'd say something like 'it was a disgrace' or 'Shutoku would have done better if it were us down there' etc.

"...I could see where you tried your best."

Tetsuya paused. "Eh?" He hadn't anticipated _that._

"Well, it was quite obvious that you and Seirin were no match for them, but I applaud your fighting spirit."

"Th-th-thank you."

Now it was Midorima's time to be shocked. Never before has he heard Tetsuya stutter. As a matter of fact, Tetsuya _doesn't_ stutter. He recovered quickly, and said "Although, Shutoku would have done better if it were us down there."

Tetsuya sighed. There it was. But hearing everything before that, he didn't feel as dejected as he would have. As he _should_ have.

"But Kuroko, a man who cannot play by himself, cannot improve by himself. I'm going to be frank, even though misdirection is a very great skill in basketball, using it for passing alone cannot suffice." Midorima said. "Seirin isn't a team of prodigies. They aren't Teikou." _And will never be_ was left unsaid, but nonetheless it was still there.

Midorima then continued, "As you have just experienced, Aomine stopped all your passes to Kagami, and you couldn't pass to your other teammates. You need to overcome your obstacles in order to win. Plus, that redheaded monkey isn't the only one on Seirin's team." the bespectacled teen seemed to be seething when he said that last sentence.

"Midorima-kun," Tetsuya said in astonishment. He couldn't believe his ears. "You're strangely out of character today. What happened?"

"What? I'm just stating ―" he abruptly stopped as he realized. He was indeed out of character. "It's Adachi-san's fault! He ―! Never mind." he murmured as he turned his face away from the boy. "It's not that I care about you or anything! I was saying!" he raised his voice once more.

Tetsuya let out a light chuckle seeing Midorima being so flustered. It is also strange for him to hear someone address Tanaka as 'Adachi-san'. But hearing that last sentence made him wonder. _How is this Tanaka-san's fault? What did he say to Midorima-kun?_ Those were the thoughts that went through Tetsuya's mind, but he couldn't bring himself to ask.

"In case you're wondering, Adachi-san and I were just talking about your match." but of course, Midorima left out some other details.

"Are you a mind-reader?" Tetsuya asked without reservation. Yes, Midorima is strangely out of character today.

"The look on your face is strangely expressive." he countered. He had to admit, Tetsuya was quite readable right now. He was then wondering if living with Kazunari and the others caused him to be so expressive these days. _That must be the case. It seems that Kuroko has been infected by Takao._ Midorima thought while narrowing his eyes at the boy.

But before he could say anything more, the doors were swiftly swung open. On Tetsuya's side there was Kise, Shige and Yukio, while on Midorima's side there was Shouichi, Kazunari and Kotarou.

"Kurokocchi!" Kise was the one who started by screeching. He then made a lunge for the boy, embracing him in a tight hug. "Mou~ I'm so glad that you're alright." he sniffed.

"Kise! You're coming too close to me!" Midorima said. "Move over!" But sadly, he was ignored.

"Get away from my childhood friend, you fiend!" Shige said, trying to peel the blond off of Tetsuya. While Yukio, just stood and watch it all go down. There was nothing he could do either way, and for once, he actually thought that Kise's antics may cheer up the downcast boy.

"No! Kurokocchi's mine!" Kise hissed back viciously while clutching to Tetsuya for dear life. The smaller boy's face was pressed up against Kise's chest. "And I'm no fiend!"

"Can't you see that you're suffocating him, you idiot?!" Shige then shouted. It was then that all actions ceased. Kise had quickly released Tetsuya, allowing him to catch his breath.

"Kurokocchi! I'm sorry!"

Kise suddenly felt a wave of hostility directed towards him. But, seeing that this atmosphere is uncomfortable, plus, taking into consideration where he was positioned and where the other members of RimFire where, Midorima did not want to risk getting caught up in Kise's demise. So, to save himself (and sadly the blond too), Midorima then asked,

"Where is Adachi-san?"

"He'll be coming back soon enough." Yukio answered. He was already in the front passenger seat.

"Shin-chan, what are you doing _here?"_ Kazunari then asked the shooter, he, Kotarou and Shouichi had sly looks on their faces as though they were insinuating something.

"I was just holding a conversation with Kuroko." Midorima responded coolly. "I was speaking to Adachi-san prior."

"I see." Shouichi said with a slight nod.

But unbeknownst to the boys, Tanaka was watching them from behind a nearby wall. With a smile on his face, he then messaged Yukio, telling the boys to go on home without him. But of course, he added that something important had come up and that he wouldn't need his car. The reason for this was that Tanaka thought that the boys would be able to cheer up Tetsuya, so he decided to let them be.

_xxxx_

Since he was the one who got the message, Yukio decided to drive, he didn't trust Shouichi with the wheel and to make matters worse, Tanaka wasn't present. However, the entire drive was noisy; at one time, Shige and Kise were arguing over who had the right to be comforting Tetsuya, Shige always stating that he was the childhood friend so he had _every_ right, Kise saying that Tetsuya was his instructor and that his love for him is unconditional. This would piss Midorima off greatly, as not only was he uncomfortable, Kise was shrieking. That's not healthy for his eardrums.

Kazunari and Kotarou would tease Midorima about all sorts of things, there were times when Kotarou purposely provoked Midorima just to see what he was like when angry. After hearing Kazunari's stories at home, he was not going to let this chance to see it in the flesh pass by.

The moment they reached home, everyone went into the living room, but Tetsuya went up to his and Kazunari's room. Then, he shut the door and went to bed. As he lay there, he realized that tears started to fall. He took a rag to wipe his face, but they won't stop. He gave up. He had been wanting to cry ever since the match ended, so now, his tears were just gushing out of his eyes.

Everything came to him. His feeling of uselessness, seeing his teammates' faces and sadness and pain, _everything._ And what was even worse, he couldn't have helped them. He was just there on the court...he hated it. He knew (and after hearing what Midorima told him), that he couldn't continue to play basketball like this, but he didn't know what to do. And he didn't want to bring down his team any further.

"What should I do?"

_xxxx_

"Tetsuya hasn't come back down yet." Kotarou said. "I hope he's alright."

"Well, the answer's pretty clear to that one, Ko-chan." Kazunari said with a sigh. "It's obvious that Tetsu-chan isn't alright. I mean, Kise hugged him today and he didn't jab him or made some blunt statement. He _allowed_ him to."

"Hey! In case you haven't realized, my Kurokocchi loves me!"

"Don't be delusional, Kise." Midorima added. But deep down, he was wondering just how he managed to get roped into this. If he had known, he would have escaped before Yukio started driving. Now, he's stuck with RimFire _and_ Kise. He made an oath to himself to never allow himself to be seen at a match ever again. "Maybe I'll wear a hoodie next time." he mumbled.

"What was that Midorimacchi?"

"It's nothing. I was just talking to myself."

"Why? You can't be lonely here. There's so many people."

Midorima shot him a look. "Because I'm the only one who can hold a serious conversation with myself."

"Now you sound just like Aominecchi." Kise said with a slightly disgusted look on his face. "It's creepy."

Midorima rolled his eyes at the blond. This was hopeless. He needed to escape. He then looked to Kazunari who was chatting happily with Kotarou. He could always get the boy to drop him home with the ricksaw.

"Takao," he said.

"Yes, Shin-chan?" he answered playfully.

"Take me home."

"Why? Don't you want to hang with us a little bit longer?" Kazunari knew that this was driving Midorima crazy but he still did it anyway. "Tanaka-san will be cooking you know!"

"Come on Midorimacchi! Maybe we can all go play a mini-match or something!" Kise joined in.

Midorima twisted his face with annoyance.

"Now, now, if Midorima-kun wants to leave we shouldn't be the ones to stop him. Maybe his parents are waiting for him at home." Shouichi said. But deep down, he was all for keeping Midorima here. Seeing the boy looking tormented was strangely amusing.

"Please, we'd have to return to school for practice anyway." Kazunari said as he rolled his eyes.

"Well, this atmosphere is stuffy for someone like him. I mean, he doesn't know us as well as he knows Kazunari and Kise." Shige said. "Maybe it's for the best?"

"Shige-chan! Aren't you on our side?!"

"Excuse me? What?"

Yukio then stood up and said, "I'll take you home, Midorima."

"Thank you." Midorima said relieved.

"Senpai!" Kise screeched out, "Don't be like that!"

But just then, they heard a voice coming from the direction of the staircase.

"Ano…"

This was the cue for the mutual yelling. "TETSUYA!" (even though Kise's "Kurokocchi" was louder.)

The boys (minus Midorima) dashed to hug the boy, surrounding him and showering him with brotherly affection (minus Kise). However, Midorima had to look on with shock. From where they were and where Tetsuya was, he could've sworn that he saw them fly. But humans can't fly, right? Right? Midorima shook his head to rid the thought but sadly he failed. The way they moved was just too fast. But then, he heard bickering and shouting and all sorts of things. Looking back at the group, he blanched.

"Get away! It's my turn!" Shige shouted, trying to shove Kise away from Tetsuya.

"No! He's my Kurokocchi!" When Kise said this, he forcibly grabbed Tetsuya's wrists and pulled him towards his chest.

"No! Give Tetsu-chan back you thief!" Kazunari made a lunge for Tetsuya's feet and held him up off the ground. He then started pulling. "Ko-chan! Grant me your power!"

"Of course!" Kotarou joined in, and some sort of tug-of-war started. Kise held Tetsuya underneath his arms, but he was no match for Kotarou and Kazunari.

"You idiots! Don't pull him apart! He's fragile!" Yukio then shouted, holding onto Tetsuya around his abdomen. "Shou!"

"Understood!" Shouichi then held Yukio and started to pull and thus, Tetsuya was being pull into three different directions. Midorima wanted to say something, but he found that his mouth couldn't open much less utter a single word. And poor Tetsuya, even though he was calling out for them to stop, his voice was drowned out by the shouting.

"Boys! I'm home!" Tanaka said as he entered through the door. But he was only greeted by Midorima who had a pale look on his face. "Midorima-kun, what's wrong?"

But before Midorima could answer, he heard the ruckus.

"Kurokocchi belongs to me!"

"No! He's my childhood friend!"

"He's our little brother!"

"He's my roommate!"

Upon seeing and hearing what was going on, Tanaka then looked to Midorima and asked, "Do you want to go home?"

"Yes!" Midorima answered in a rather overenthusiastic manner, which may rivals Kise's.

_xxxx_

After the whole arguing over Tetsuya died down (thankfully, he was still in one piece), they converged in the living room, and decided to tell Tetsuya of what they had planned to do with him, prior to this match. When he heard the details, he was shocked out of his wits, even Kise couldn't have believed his ears.

"Senpai, how will that work?" he asked Yukio. "Phantom Point guard? What?"

"I'm clueless as well." Shige said. "Aren't point guards supposed to be visible? How will…?"

"We don't know, but we'll make it work. And I'm pretty sure that Tetsuya will make it work out as well." Shouichi grinned. "This is going to be fun."

Tetsuya shivered when he saw that smile.

And so, the boys headed off towards the street court with Kise in tow. And strangely, no one questioned the disappearance of Midorima. They probably shrugged it off as him leaving due to their craziness. But, since Kise was present, they thought of putting him to good use in this session. He's been nothing but a ball of sunshine, and once Tetsuya's involved, they're pretty sure that he'll do anything asked.

That said, they've reached the street court.

"Kotarou, you stand there." Shouichi started. He then turned to Shige, "you stand over there." The boy complied and moved to his spot. After that, he looked to Yukio, "we're done!"

"Kise, go in the paint as well." Yukio commanded.

"Sir, yes, sir!" he said as he skipped merrily towards Kotarou with a grin on his face.

"Kazunari, to the left wing."

"I got it."

"Now, Tetsuya, let's do this." He smiled. When everything was in place, Kise and Kotarou were in the paint area, Shouichi and Kazunari were at the left wing, Shige was alone close by the net. Tetsuya and Yukio were at the top of the circle.

"First thing, Point guards are cautious." Yukio began. "Given how our players are set up, we will have to choose the right course of action so that the ball can make it into the net."

Tetsuya nodded.

"For example, looking at this set-up, and knowing the abilities of my teammates, I can tell that passing to Kazunari would be a bad idea. You know why?"

"Kazunari-kun is at the three-point line basically, and he isn't that proficient in shooting threes. Since there is a chance that it may rebound, Shige-kun will get it and may pass it to Kotarou-kun who may stand a chance against Kise-kun because of his lightning dribble."

Yukio nodded with a hum. "Or?"

"Kazunari has to dribble around Shouichi-kun to get in the inside and this will cause Shige-kun to block him, allowing for a back-tip from Shouichi-kun."

"You know your stuff." Yukio smirked. "Well done. Since you've said all that, what would you do? Pass to Kise? Move in further? Or instruct Kazunari to move?"

Tetsuya looked around. It seems that passing to Kise would be the wisest option, however, he knows just how strong Kotarou's defense can be. And as he had pointed out, passing to Kazunari would be a no-no. And since, he can't shoot or dribble properly, there no way, he'd move in there. Thus, he came to a decision, one that wasn't in the options that Yukio gave him.

"Kazunari-kun! Kise-kun!" he called out. He bounced the ball to the hawk-eyed boy, and then dashed off towards Shouichi. When Kise saw this, he dashed off as well, heading towards the net. Yukio looked baffled, after all that Tetsuya just told him, he _still_ passed to Kazunari. But then, he headed into Shouichi's direction.

"Interesting." He said with a nod.

When Kazunari managed to get away from Shouichi, Shige came up to block him, but in that moment, he passed the ball back to Tetsuya who sent it rocketing upwards, towards the net. Kise, who was already making his way towards the net, grabbed it with eagerness and slammed it through the hoop.

"Very interesting." Yukio concluded. But one thing bothered him slightly, the time that Tetsuya took to make that decision…he'll let it slide for now. By the time they were done with him, he'd be up to speed.

"That wasn't a bad plan. At first I was really wondering why you had passed to Kazunari." Shouichi said. "I mean, I thought the better option would have been Kise."

"Well, he is. But then again, I realized the possibility of Kise-kun being stalled by Kotarou, thus making way for Shige to block him in a double team with Kotarou-kun. So I thought that, it's best I pass to Kazunari-kun who can use his eyes to pass back to me so that I could redirect the ball to Kise-kun."

Shige, Kise and Kotarou gaped with shock.

Kazunari, Shouichi and Yukio nodded with approvals.

"Not bad, I guess since you are a passing specialist, this comes with the territory?" Shige asked. "I mean, teaching you to point guard doesn't seem like it's going to be hard."

"It's the dribbling." Kotarou sighed.

"And shooting." Shouichi added. "That's not going to be fun."

Tetsuya made a face at him. Instantly, Shouichi melted. "Tetsuya!" He said turning his face away. "That was dangerous! Are you trying to kill me?!"

"You said something mean Shou-nii."

Stab. Shouichi felt like he was going to die.

"Yu-nii, wasn't he mean?" he said as he batted his eyes at Yukio with a slight pout.

"Of course he was. That's why he's going to get punished accordingly." Yukio grinned. He wasn't grinning because of Shouichi's upcoming demise, but the fact that Tetsuya called him 'Yu-nii'. It was cute and reminded him of his little brothers when they were younger and adorable.

"Kurokocchi! Call me Ryou-nii too!" Kise wailed, begging the boy.

RimFire looked at him with disgust.

"You can't be serious, Kise-kun?" Tetsuya asked.

"There's no way my cute Tetsu will call such a fiend as yourself that!" Kotarou said. "No way!"

Kise made a pout. "Fiend?! I'm not! Pwease Kurokocchi?"

"Let's continue, Shou!" Yukio said, totally ignoring Kise. As a matter of fact, everyone ignored him.

The moment Yukio called out his name, Shouichi had once again placed the boys into different positions, they planned to do a repeat of the first time, just with the others setting up differently. And also, this time, it would be all Tetsuya. Yukio had gone to mark Shouichi by the left wing, Kise and Kotarou were in the free throw circle, Kazunari and Shige were free by the outside and the net.

"Well, let the creation of the phantom point guard begin!" Kotarou shouted with glee.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading~!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
